Reconciling cyanobacterial fixed-nitrogen distributions and transport experiments with quantitative modelling

Filamentous cyanobacteria growing in media with insufficient fixed nitrogen (fN) differentiate some cells into heterocysts, which fix nitrogen for the remaining vegetative cells. Transport studies have shown both periplasmic and cytoplasmic connections between cells that could transport fN along the filament. Two experiments have imaged fN distributions along filaments. In 1974, Wolk et al found a peaked concentration of fN at heterocysts using autoradiographic techniques. In contrast, in 2007, Popa et al used nanoSIMS to show large dips at the location of heterocysts, with a variable but approximately level distribution between them. With an integrated model of fN transport and cell growth, we recover the results of both Wolk et al and of Popa et al using the same model parameters. To do this, we account for immobile incorporated fN and for the differing durations of labelled nitrogen fixation that occurred in the two experiments. The variations seen by Popa et al are consistent with the effects of cell-by-cell variations of growth rates, and mask diffusive gradients. We are unable to rule out a significant amount of periplasmic fN transport.