Scientists studying a deep-sea microbe have found an enzyme that can survive heat severe enough to destroy most proteins. The enzyme converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia under these extreme conditions, a task that normally requires more fragile biological machinery.
The team points to the enzyme's unusual structure and a newly observed reaction state as key clues. These features may help explain how the microbe stabilizes the reaction at high temperatures.
Because nitrogen fixation is essential to life, the findings hint at an ancient, shared mechanism that could predate the diverse nitrogen-fixing systems seen today. The work offers a new window into how this fundamental process might have evolved.