A Novel Molecular Approach to Nitrogen-Fixation in Marine Ecosystems

固氮作用是氮素的重要组成部分 在海上循环。 目前看来，殖民地 蓝细菌Trichodesmium是主要的固氮生物， 开阔海洋的透光带。 一些其他物种可以 可能对N2的固定有显著贡献，但 由于文化的困难， 原位固氮的测定。 在这个项目中，博士。 泽尔和合作者将提出一种新的方法， 土壤中固氮微生物的检测和表征 海洋环境 他们会用一种非常敏感的分子 聚合酶链反应（PCR）技术，以识别和 确定各种海洋生物固氮基因的特征， 环境. 使用这种技术将解决一些问题。 N2固定潜力的存在是一个长期存在的问题， 浮游和底栖环境。 此外，产品 这项研究将是一个DNA序列数据库和克隆的nif 这些基因可用于详细研究 海洋固氮微生物的生态多样性。

Nitrogen fixation is an important component of the nitrogen cycle in the sea. Presently, it appears that the colonial cyanobacterium Trichodesmium is the major diazotroph in the euphotic zone of the open ocean. A number of other species could potentially contribute significantly to the fixation of N2, but may have escaped attention due to the difficulties of culture and the measurement of N2-fixation in situ. In this project, Dr. Zehr and collaborators will present a new approach to the detection and characterization of N2-fixing microorganisms in the marine environment. They will use a very sensitive molecular technique, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), to identify and characterize nitrogen-fixing genes in a variety of marine environments. The use of this technique will settle a number of long-standing issues of the presence of N2-fixation potential i planktonic and benthic environments. Furthermore, the product of this research will be a DNA sequence database and cloned nif genes which can be used for detailed investigations of the ecological diversity of N2-fixing microorganisms in the sea.