Direct measurement of o2-depleted microzones in marine oscillatoria: relation to n2 fixation.

Among the nitrogen (N(2))-fixing Cyanobacteria, the filamentous, nonheterocystous marine Oscillatoria spp. (Trichodesmium) appears enigmatic; it exhibits N(2) fixation in the presence of oxygenic photosynthesis without structural protection of the N(2-)fixing apparatus (nitrogenase) from potential inhibition by molecular oxygen (O(2)). Characteristically, N(2) fixation is largely confined to aggregates (bundles) of filaments. Previous work has suggested that spatial partitioning of photosynthesis and of N(2) fixation occurs in the bundles as a means of allowing both processes to occur contemporaneously. The probing of freshly sampled bundles with O(2) microelectrodes directly confirmed such partitioning by showing the presence of O(2-)depleted (reduced) microzones in photosynthetically active, N(2-)fixing bundles. Bundle size was directly related to both the development of internal reduced microzones and cellular N(2) fixation rates. By enhancing microzone formation, bundles optimize N(2) fixation as a means of supporting Oscillatoria spp. blooms in surficial, nitrogen-depleted tropical and subtropical waters.