TY - JOUR A1 - Kneipp, Janina A1 - Zancajo, Victor M.R. A1 - Diehn, S. A1 - Filiba, N. A1 - Elbaum, R. T1 - Spectroscopic Discrimination of Sorghum Silica Phytoliths JF - Frontiers in Plant Science N2 - Grasses accumulate silicon in the form of silicic acid, which is precipitated as amorphous silica in microscopic particles termed phytoliths. These particles comprise a variety of morphologies according to the cell type in which the silica was deposited. Despite the evident morphological differences, phytolith chemistry has mostly been analysed in bulk samples, neglecting differences between the varied types formed in the same species. In this work, we extracted leaf phytoliths from mature plants of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench. Using solid state NMR and thermogravimetric analysis, we show that the extraction methods alter greatly the silica molecular structure, its condensation degree and the trapped organic matter. Measurements of individual phytoliths by Raman and synchrotron FTIR microspectroscopies in combination with multivariate analysis separated bilobate silica cells from prickles and long cells, based on the silica molecular structures and the fraction and composition of occluded organic matter. The variations in structure and composition of sorghum phytoliths suggest that the biological pathways leading to silica deposition vary between these cell types. KW - Phytoliths KW - Biosilicification KW - Raman KW - Sorghum KW - Solid state NMR KW - Synchrotron FTIR PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-502672 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.01571 VL - 10 SP - 1571 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne AN - OPUS4-50267 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -