It was believed that only bacteria can take nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a form that is usable for life. However, an international team of scientists describe the first known nitrogen-fixing organelle within a eukaryotic cell.
The scientists have called the new organelle the 'nitroplast', which they believe evolved 100 million years ago. LiveScience explained that 'the nitroplast probably developed from a bacterium in the ocean, after the microbe was engulfed by an algal cell. The bacteria and algae were previously thought to be living in symbiosis, with the microbe supplying nitrogen in a form the algae could use and the algae providing the microbe with a home.'
The research has been published in Cell and Science.
'The first time we think it happened, it gave rise to all complex life,' said Dr Tyler Coale from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and first author of the Science paper, referring to the evolution of mitochondria, approximately 1.5 billion years ago.
