Joining the ranks of nitrogen-harvesting organisms is a new type of cell that has recently been discovered. Scientists have identified a bacterium that transformed into a nitrogen-harvesting machine for its algal host over the course of 100 million years. This bacterium, once a symbiont, is now an essential organelle within the cell.
Nitrogen fixation, the process of converting atmospheric nitrogen gas into ammonia, is crucial for life. Organisms rely on nitrogen-containing compounds to produce vital biochemicals. While bacteria and archaea typically perform nitrogen fixation in soil or aquatic environments, a bacterium known as UCYN-A plays a key role in oceanic nitrogen fixation. Marine ecologist Jonathan Zehr from the University of California, Santa Cruz, highlights the significance of these bacteria, which also act as symbionts within unicellular algae like Braarudosphaera bigelowii and its relatives.
Date and Time: 2024-04-11 13:00:00
Original Source: www.sciencenews.org