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 
| |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Cyanobacteria |
| Class: | Cyanophyceae |
| Order: | Oscillatoriales |
| Family: | Microcoleaceae |
| Genus: | Trichodesmium Ehrenberg ex Gomont, 1892 |
| Species | |
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Trichodesmium contortum | |
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- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Carpenter, E.J.; Capone, D.G.; Rueter, J.G., eds. (1991). Marine Pelagic Cyanobacteria: Trichodesmium and other diazothrophs. Dordrecht.: Kluwer Academic Publishers.