Most organisms require nitrogen to produce biological molecules, such as nucleotides and amino acids, but until recently, only prokaryotes were known to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. “It’s a very ...

Nitrogen is vital for all known life. Yet most nitrogen on Earth is in the atmosphere as di-nitrogen gas, which many organisms can’t use. Fortunately, there are microbes that can tap into this ...

It has puzzled scientists for years whether and how bacteria, that live from dissolved organic matter in marine waters, can carry out N 2 fixation. It was assumed that the high levels of oxygen ...

The marine nitrogen cycle is crucial to sustaining ocean productivity, with biological nitrogen fixation representing a primary mechanism by which inert atmospheric nitrogen is converted into ...

Scientists shed light on an unexpected partnership: A marine diatom and a bacterium that can account for a large share of nitrogen fixation in vast regions of the ocean. This symbiosis likely plays a ...

A new evaluation of biological nitrogen fixation for inland and coastal waters concludes that these habitats are an overlooked but important source of fixation globally. Robinson Fulweiler and ...

Biological nitrogen (N₂) fixation performed by diazotrophs (N₂ fixing bacteria) is thought to be one of the main sources of plant available N in pristine ecosystems like arctic tundra. However, direct ...

A research team has discovered how the 'Shethna protein II' protects the nitrogen-fixing enzyme nitrogenase from damage. The oxygen sensor protein could help to make nitrogenase usable in ...