Reveal of Nitroplast

Color Pencil on Paper, Digital (Procreate)
2024

“This marine alga is the first known eukaryote to pull nitrogen from air”

“Until now, the only “nitrogen-fixing” organisms were thought to be prokaryotes such as bacteria”

Nitrogen is key to forming molecules like proteins and DNA, without which the life we know wouldn’t exist. The study of nitrogen fixation in the eukaryotes has been going on. Almost the same time last year, published research pointed out that the bacteria UCYN-A isn’t merely a symbiont in the algae but has evolved into an organelle, the nitroplast, helping the algae to produce nitrogen as a eukaryote.

This illustration project is inspired by and based on article published in Science News By Jake Buehler. Article:

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/marine-alga-eukaryote-pull-nitrogen-air