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. 2008 Nov 14;322(5904):1110-2.
doi: 10.1126/science.1165340.

Globally distributed uncultivated oceanic N2-fixing cyanobacteria lack oxygenic photosystem II

Jonathan P Zehr  1 , Shellie R Bench, Brandon J Carter, Ian Hewson, Faheem Niazi, Tuo Shi, H James Tripp, Jason P Affourtit
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Globally distributed uncultivated oceanic N2-fixing cyanobacteria lack oxygenic photosystem II

Jonathan P Zehr et al. Science. .

Abstract

Biological nitrogen (N2) fixation is important in controlling biological productivity and carbon flux in the oceans. Unicellular N2-fixing cyanobacteria have only recently been discovered and are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical seas. Metagenomic analysis of flow cytometry-sorted cells shows that unicellular N2-fixing cyanobacteria in "group A" (UCYN-A) lack genes for the oxygen-evolving photosystem II and for carbon fixation, which has implications for oceanic carbon and nitrogen cycling and raises questions regarding the evolution of photosynthesis and N2 fixation on Earth.

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