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Chain Gang

May 30, 2007

MIT/WHOI graduate student Annette Hynes captured this microscope photograph, or micrograph, of a colony of Trichodesmium at 1000x magnification. A form of primitive, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, Trichodesmium are often found in tropical and subtropical oceans where they contribute significantly to the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, and iron. Hynes and advisor John Waterbury are conducting biogeochemistry experiments to determine how different species of the bacteria respond to different environmental conditions and niches. (Annette Hynes, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)