Nitrogen-fixing organelles

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Context

• New studies have discovered nitrogen-fixing symbiotic organisms exhibiting behaviors similar to organelles.

Details

• Researchers posit these symbiotic organisms—UCYN-A, a species of cyanobacteria—may be evolving organelle-like characteristics.
• UCYN-A lives in a symbiotic relationship with a closely related group of marine algae, B. bigelowii, in areas of the open ocean that are often low in nutrients.
• UCYN-A can fix nitrogen gas into ammonium even in nutrient-rich environments.
• Findings are significant because If UCYN-A are moving along the evolutionary path toward developing into nitrogen-fixing organelles and we find cells aside from B. bigelowii also have such organelles or are evolving similarly, it could be a significant achievement.

What are organelles?

• An organelle is a subcellular structure that has one or more specific jobs to perform in the cell, much like an organ does in the body. Among the more important cell organelles are the nuclei, which store genetic information; mitochondria, which produce chemical energy; and ribosomes, which assemble proteins.

Source: https://phys.org/news/2024-04-evolution-action-possibility-nitrogen-organelles.html#google_vignette