Eavesdropping on the ocean's mighty microorganisms

The microscopic organisms that make up ocean ecosystems are invisible to the naked eye, yet they are responsible for producing half the oxygen we breathe, and for sustaining all the world's fisheries. Now, nearing the end ...

How does the Great Barrier Reef get its nitrogen fix?

When Captain James Cook and the botanist Sir Joseph Banks navigated Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in the 1770s they described blooms of "sea sawdust" we now know to be the cyanobacterium Trichodesmium. Similarly, in ...

Fixing the role of nitrogen in coral bleaching

Excess nitrogen is shown to disrupt coral-algae symbiosis, triggering bleaching even in the absence of heat and light stress. With coral bleaching events intensifying as global sea temperatures rise, this is an important ...

Nitrogen fixation research could shed light on biological mystery

Inspired by a natural process found in certain bacteria, a team of Caltech researchers is inching closer to a new method for producing fertilizer that could some day hold benefits for farmers—particularly in the developing ...

Nitrogen in ancient rocks a sign of early life

Nitrogen is one of the essential nutrients of life on Earth, with some organisms, such as the kinds of microbes found within the roots of legume plants, capable of converting nitrogen gas into molecules that other species ...

'Farming' bacteria to boost growth in the oceans

Chemosynthetic symbionts are bacteria living inside or on the surface of animals, supplying their host with food that would otherwise be unavailable. It has long been known that these bacteria fix carbon and convert it into ...

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