Earthworm<p>Wow!<br />For years, researchers couldn&#39;t identify the source of so much nitrogen (N) in the oceans. It was thought that cyanobacteria were the only organisms capable of fixing nitrogen in marine ecosystems, but their numbers could explain only half of the observed N.<br />Some years ago, mysterious gene fragments coding for a nitrogenase (the enzyme that fixes nitrogen) were found in seawater samples. These traces were not from cyanobacteria. But then, from who?</p><p>A recent study found that the N-fixing bacteria are related to Rhizobia and seem to be symbiotic with diatomees (unicellular algae). Yes, *the rhizobia*. *In a symbiosis*. *with unicellular algae* (= plants)<br />😃<br />Rhizobia are the bacteria that fix the Nitrogen in the root nodules of leguminous plants, effectively making the rich terrestrial ecosystems possible.<br />And their cousins in the sea seem to do the same. The plants provide the bacteria carbohydrates (easy-peasy for photosynthetic organisms, as carbon is not their problem) and shelter, and the bacteria fix nitrogen. Just like this. And everyone benefits, including the surrounding ecosystem.<br />This is really cool and made my day!</p><p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07495-w" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">nature.com/articles/s41586-024</span><span class="invisible">-07495-w</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Microbiology" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Microbiology</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ecology" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Ecology</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Nitrogen" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Nitrogen</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Rhizobia" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Rhizobia</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NitrogenCycle" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NitrogenCycle</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Oceans" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Oceans</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MarineBiology" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>MarineBiology</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SciComm" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SciComm</span></a><br /><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ScienceIsWonderful" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ScienceIsWonderful</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AmazingScience" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>AmazingScience</span></a></p>