Light-Limited Growth Rate Modulates Nitrate Inhibition of Dinitrogen Fixation in the Marine Unicellular Cyanobacterium Crocosphaera watsonii

Biological N2 fixation is the dominant supply of new nitrogen (N) to the oceans, but is often inhibited in the presence of fixed N sources such as nitrate (NO3-). Anthropogenic fixed N inputs to the ocean are increasing, but their effect on marine N2 fixation is uncertain. Thus, global estimates of new oceanic N depend on a fundamental understanding of factors that modulate N source preferences by N2-fixing cyanobacteria. We examined the unicellular diazotroph Crocosphaera watsonii (strain WH0003) to determine how the light-limited growth rate influences the inhibitory effects of fixed N on N2 fixation. When growth (µ) was limited by low light (µ = 0.23 d-1), short-term experiments indicated that 0.4 µM NH4+ reduced N2-fixation by ∼90% relative to controls without added NH4+. In fast-growing, high-light-acclimated cultures (µ = 0.68 d-1), 2.0 µM NH4+ was needed to achieve the same effect. In long-term exposures to NO3-, inhibition of N2 fixation also varied with growth rate. In high-light-acclimated, fast-growing cultures, NO3- did not inhibit N2-fixation rates in comparison with cultures growing on N2 alone. Instead NO3- supported even faster growth, indicating that the cellular assimilation rate of N2 alone (i.e. dinitrogen reduction) could not support the light-specific maximum growth rate of Crocosphaera. When growth was severely light-limited, NO3- did not support faster growth rates but instead inhibited N2-fixation rates by 55% relative to controls. These data rest on the basic tenet that light energy is the driver of photoautotrophic growth while various nutrient substrates serve as supports. Our findings provide a novel conceptual framework to examine interactions between N source preferences and predict degrees of inhibition of N2 fixation by fixed N sources based on the growth rate as controlled by light.