Fellow Travelers

Observations suggest diazotrophs like Crocosphaera and Trichodesmium pay for their ability to fix nitrogen with a very low growth rate, yet diatom-diazotroph associations or DDAs exhibit high growth rates. CBIOMES postdoctoral fellow Chris Follett and co-authors use a cell flux model to test the hypothesis that diatom-diazotroph associations or DDAs grow faster than unpaired diazotrophs because the diatoms in DDAs provide organic carbon to their diazotroph guests that boost their growth rate. Continue reading “Fellow Travelers”