Nathans orgo ppt slides

This document discusses biological nitrogen fixation, which is the process by which nitrogen is converted from atmospheric nitrogen gas into ammonia by prokaryotes like bacteria and archaea. It notes that nitrogen is essential but difficult to access from the atmosphere, and describes four methods of nitrogen acquisition including nitrogen fixation. It then focuses on nitrogen fixation in more detail, noting the discovery of nitrogenase and how it allows prokaryotes to perform this process, and how agriculture relies heavily on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers to provide nitrogen to crops.