Phosphate availability affects fixed nitrogen transfer from diazotrophs to their epibionts

Dinitrogen (N(2)) fixation is a major source of external nitrogen (N) to aquatic ecosystems and therefore exerts control over productivity. Studies have shown that N(2) -fixers release freshly fixed N into the environment, but the causes for this N release are largely unclear. Here, we show that the availability of phosphate can directly affect the transfer of freshly fixed N to epibionts in filamentous, diazotrophic cyanobacteria. Stable-isotope incubations coupled to single-cell analyses showed that <1% and ~15% of freshly fixed N was transferred to epibionts of Aphanizomenon and Nodularia, respectively, at phosphate scarcity during a summer bloom in the Baltic Sea. When phosphate was added, the transfer of freshly fixed N to epibionts dropped to about half for Nodularia, whereas the release from Aphanizomenon increased slightly. At the same time, the growth rate of Nodularia roughly doubled, indicating that less freshly fixed N was released and was used for biomass production instead. Phosphate scarcity and the resulting release of freshly fixed N could explain the heavy colonization of Nodularia filaments by microorganisms during summer blooms. As such, the availability of phosphate may directly affect the partitioning of fixed N(2) in colonies of diazotrophic cyanobacteria and may impact the interactions with their microbiome.