~8 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Gene expression
- Heterocyst formation
- Symbiotic relationships
- ''Anabaena-Azolla''
- References<ref>{{Cite web |last=Writer |first=Aditya Gupta |date=2025-10-31 |title=Heterocysts in Cyanobacteria – Definition, Structure, and Function Explained |url=https://raptinewstoday.in/posts/aditya/eng/heterocysts-in-cyanobacteria-definition-structure-and-function-explained/ |access-date=2026-04-01 |website=Rapti News Channel Pvt.Ltd |language=en-US}}</ref>
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Heterocysts or heterocytes are specialized nitrogen-fixing cells formed during nitrogen starvation by some filamentous cyanobacteria, such as Nostoc, Cylindrospermum, and Anabaena. They fix nitrogen from dinitrogen (N2) in the air using the enzyme nitrogenase, in order to provide the cells in the filament with nitrogen for biosynthesis.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “heterocyst” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.