Location, speciation, and quantification of carbon in silica phytoliths using synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy.
Phytoliths of biogenic silica play a vital role in the silicon biogeochemical cycle and occlude a fraction of organic carbon. The location, chemical speciation, and quantification of this carbon within phytoliths have remained elusive due to limited direct experimental evidence. In this work, phytol...
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| Format: | Article |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0302009 |
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| author | Djanira R Negrao Julio C Cezar Fabiano E Montoro Jian Wang Charles W Rice Carlos E Driemeier |
| author_facet | Djanira R Negrao Julio C Cezar Fabiano E Montoro Jian Wang Charles W Rice Carlos E Driemeier |
| author_sort | Djanira R Negrao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Phytoliths of biogenic silica play a vital role in the silicon biogeochemical cycle and occlude a fraction of organic carbon. The location, chemical speciation, and quantification of this carbon within phytoliths have remained elusive due to limited direct experimental evidence. In this work, phytoliths (bilobate morphotype) from the sugarcane stalk epidermis are sectioned with a focused ion beam to produce lamellas (≈10 × 10 μm2 size, <500 nm thickness) and probed by synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy (≈100-200 nm pixel size; energies near the silicon and carbon K-absorption edges). Analysis of the spectral image stacks reveals the complementarity of the silica and carbon spatial distributions, with carbon found at the borders of the lamellas, in islands within the silica, and dispersed in extended regions that can be described as a mixed silica-carbonaceous matrix. Carbon spectra are assigned mainly to lignin-like compounds as well as to proteins. Carbon contents of 3-14 wt.% are estimated from the spectral maps of four distinct phytolith lamellas. The results provide unprecedented spatial and chemical information on the carbon in phytoliths obtained without interference from wet-chemical digestion. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e6218bdb762e4d558631442e7c3f3a9e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
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| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-e6218bdb762e4d558631442e7c3f3a9e2025-08-20T03:58:14ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01194e030200910.1371/journal.pone.0302009Location, speciation, and quantification of carbon in silica phytoliths using synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy.Djanira R NegraoJulio C CezarFabiano E MontoroJian WangCharles W RiceCarlos E DriemeierPhytoliths of biogenic silica play a vital role in the silicon biogeochemical cycle and occlude a fraction of organic carbon. The location, chemical speciation, and quantification of this carbon within phytoliths have remained elusive due to limited direct experimental evidence. In this work, phytoliths (bilobate morphotype) from the sugarcane stalk epidermis are sectioned with a focused ion beam to produce lamellas (≈10 × 10 μm2 size, <500 nm thickness) and probed by synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy (≈100-200 nm pixel size; energies near the silicon and carbon K-absorption edges). Analysis of the spectral image stacks reveals the complementarity of the silica and carbon spatial distributions, with carbon found at the borders of the lamellas, in islands within the silica, and dispersed in extended regions that can be described as a mixed silica-carbonaceous matrix. Carbon spectra are assigned mainly to lignin-like compounds as well as to proteins. Carbon contents of 3-14 wt.% are estimated from the spectral maps of four distinct phytolith lamellas. The results provide unprecedented spatial and chemical information on the carbon in phytoliths obtained without interference from wet-chemical digestion.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0302009 |
| spellingShingle | Djanira R Negrao Julio C Cezar Fabiano E Montoro Jian Wang Charles W Rice Carlos E Driemeier Location, speciation, and quantification of carbon in silica phytoliths using synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy. PLoS ONE |
| title | Location, speciation, and quantification of carbon in silica phytoliths using synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy. |
| title_full | Location, speciation, and quantification of carbon in silica phytoliths using synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy. |
| title_fullStr | Location, speciation, and quantification of carbon in silica phytoliths using synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Location, speciation, and quantification of carbon in silica phytoliths using synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy. |
| title_short | Location, speciation, and quantification of carbon in silica phytoliths using synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy. |
| title_sort | location speciation and quantification of carbon in silica phytoliths using synchrotron scanning transmission x ray microspectroscopy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0302009 |
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