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Science 15 December 1972:
Vol. 178. no. 4066, pp. 1207 - 1209
DOI: 10.1126/science.178.4066.1207
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Articles

Nitrogen Fixation by a Blue-Green Epiphyte on Pelagic Sargassum

Edward J. Carpenter 1

1 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543

Nitrogen fixation by Dichothrix fucicola, an epiphyte on pelagic Sargassum, was measured in May and June 1972 in the western Sargasso Sea and the Gulf Stream. This is the first report of nitrogen fixation by a heterocyst-bearing blue-green alga in the open ocean, and also the first observation of nitrogen fixation in the genus Dichothrix. Cellular carbon/nitrogen ratios suggested that the Dichothrix was nitrogen-starved. In dense aggregations of Sargassum, such as rafts or windrows, the enrichment of surface seawater with combined nitrogen from nitrogen fixation may be pronounced.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Genes of Cyanobacterial Origin in Plant Nuclear Genomes Point to a Heterocyst-Forming Plastid Ancestor.
O. Deusch, G. Landan, M. Roettger, N. Gruenheit, K. V. Kowallik, J. F. Allen, W. Martin, and T. Dagan (2008)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 25, 748-761
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Nitrogen Fixation in the Marine Environment.
D. G. Capone, D. G. CAPONE, and E. J. CARPENTER (1982)
Science 217, 1140-1142
   Abstract »    PDF »


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