Nitrogen availability is crucial for crop yield with nitrogen fertilizer accounting for a large percentage of farmers' expenses. However, an untimely or excessive application of fertilizer can increase risks of negative environmental effects. These factors, along with the environmental and energy costs of synthesizing nitrogen fertilizer, led us to seek out novel biotechnology-driven approaches...

Filamentous, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria form extensive summer blooms in the Baltic Sea. Their ability to fix dissolved N2 allows cyanobacteria to circumvent the general summer nitrogen limitation, while also generating a supply of novel bioavailable nitrogen for the food web. However, the fate of the nitrogen fixed by cyanobacteria remains unresolved, as does its importance for secondary pro...

We present a novel method for simple and efficient lipid analysis by integrating multi-process including microalgal culture, lipid production and lipid extraction on a single microfluidic device. We devised a double-layered PDMS device, composed of cell culture chamber and connecting channel filled with micropillar array between culture chamber and output reservoir. Lipid accumulation was induc...

The marine nitrogen fixing microorganisms (diazotrophs) are a major source of nitrogen to open ocean ecosystems and are predicted to be limited by iron in most marine environments. Here we use global and targeted proteomic analyses on a key unicellular marine diazotroph Crocosphaera watsonii to reveal large scale diel changes in its proteome, including substantial variations in concentrations o...

Nitrogen fixation of Medicago truncatula is regulated by the nitrogen status of leaves through inducing a repeatedly occurring 24-h nodule activity rhythm that reduces per day nitrogen fixation. The hypotheses of the present study were that (1) long-term moderate whole-plant P deficiency in Medicago truncatula induces an according daily rhythm in nitrogenase activity comparable to that induced ...

Inorganic nitrogen is an essential nutrient for photosynthetic organisms. Its efficient use in nature involves adaptation of the organisms to the availability of the nitrogen supply, to changing environmental conditions, and to the provision of carbon and other nutrients. The unicellular alga Chlamydomonas provides a useful model to identify not only each of the components participating in the ...

The rapidly growing water fern Azolla, which contains a nitrogen-fixing blue-green algal symbiont, has been studied as a possible system for photoproduction of molecular hydrogen. When this plant is grown on a combined nitrogen supply, photochemically generated hydrogen can be diverted through the algal nitrogenase system, which serves as a source of molecular hydrogen generated from water. Thi...

Artichoke has a high nitrogen requirements and often farmers apply excessive amounts of fertiliser that contributes to groundwater pollution by nitrate. Artichoke nitrogen fertilisation can be made more efficient by plant analysis. Petiole sap nitrate concentrations in recently mature leaves was tested as an indicator of crop nitrogen status in artichoke grown in sand culture. Two rapid methods...