DINDE and IDEFIX investigate the magnitude, controls and diversity of N2 fixation in the Indian Ocean

The goal of DINDE and IDEFIX is to decipher the role of N2 fixation in the two main sub-basins of the Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal), focusing on the two most unknown seasons: winter monsoon and intermonsoon. The in situ work will be performed during four oceanographic cruises (two per basin in each target season). We will examine the magnitude of N2 fixation rates according to environmental variability, untangling the diversity of local diazotroph assemblages and their metabolic controls. Moreover, DINDE and IDEFIX will isolate strains with the aim of discovering diazotroph species unique to the Indian Ocean.