Heterocysts: Nitrogen Fixation in Cyanonacteria

Biology Professor (Twitter: @DrWhitneyHolden) discusses the function of heterocysts, specialized cells in cyanobacteria that enable it to fix nitrogen in compartments that are separate from its photosynthetic processes.  This practice is an example of microbial cooperation where two cells share metabolic products for their mutual survival.  The biochemical reason (nitrogenase and its need for an anaerobic environment) that underlies the need for this compartmentalization are also described.

• #education
• #biology_professor
• #mcat_biology
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• #heterocyst
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• #nitrogen_fixation
• #cyanobacteria
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• #nitrogenase
• #anaerobic
• #oxygen_scavenging