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Changes In Proteins Associated With Nitrogen Fixation And Iron Nutrition In The Marine Cyanobacterium Trichodesmium, Karen Marie Elardo

Dissertations and Theses

This investigation tested the hypothesis that iron, as a micronutrient, will affect proteins in Trichodesmium and therefore affect nitrogen fixation. Changes in proteins that are a result of iron enrichment were compared to naturally occurring diel changes. Alterations in the iron protein of nitrogenase were compared to nitrogen fixation rates using the acetylene reduction technique. The observed changes in proteins were compared in Trichodesmium colonies from the Caribbean Sea and the Sargasso Sea.

Trichodesmium colonies were monitored for protein and iron content over a diel period on two cruises. The changes in protein and iron content in Trichodesmium colonies were …