Trichodesmium

genus of Cyanobacteria

Trichodesmium, or "sea sawdust", is a genus of filamentous cyanobacteria. They are found in nutrient-poor tropical and subtropical ocean waters.

Trichodesmium
Trichodesmium bloom off the Great Barrier Reef
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Cyanobacteria
Class: Cyanophyceae
Order: Oscillatoriales
Family: Microcoleaceae
Genus: Trichodesmium
Ehrenberg ex Gomont, 1892
Species

Trichodesmium contortum
Trichodesmium erythraeum
Trichodesmium hildebrandtii
Trichodesmium radians
Trichodesmium tenue
Trichodesmium thiebautii

They are most common around Australia and in the Red Sea, where they were first described by Captain Cook.

Trichodesmium is a diazotroph; that is, it fixes atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium, a nutrient used by other organisms. Trichodesmium is thought to fix nitrogen on such a scale that it accounts for almost half of the nitrogen fixation in marine systems globally.[1][2]

References change

  1. Bergman, B.; Sandh, G.; Lin, S.; Larsson, H.; Carpenter, E. J. (2012). "Trichodesmium – a widespread marine cyanobacterium with unusual nitrogen fixation properties". FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 37 (3): 1–17. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6976.2012.00352.x. PMC 3655545. PMID 22928644.
  2. Carpenter, E.J.; Capone, D.G.; Rueter, J.G., eds. (1991). Marine Pelagic Cyanobacteria: Trichodesmium and other diazothrophs. Dordrecht.: Kluwer Academic Publishers.