Where do algae get their nitrogen from?

[Michael Dorsett Onken]

axelboldt at my-dejanews.com wrote:
: Hi,

: how do cyano bacteria and algae take in nitrogen?

: Thanks,
:   Axel

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Algae get their nitrogen the same way higher plants do: from nitrates and
nitrogenous compounds in the water.

Cyanobacteria are a different story because they can also fix nitrogen,
i.e. convert elemental nitrogen, N2, into molecular nitrogen like ammonia.
Our atmosphere is 80% N2, and the gas is soluble in water, so there is
plenty of it available for them to fix.

(Nitrogen gas and ammonia are sufficiently small and non-polar to pass
directly through the plasma membrane without assistance.)

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