During my PhD I was involved in various projects using secondary ion mass spectrometry to reveal single-cell nutrient assimilation of carbon and various forms of nitrogen (N2-gas, nitrate and ammonium). This was conducted by using stable isotope incubation experiments both in the field and under laboratory conditions. We revealed single-cell assimilation in natural mixed communities but also in newly hatched hundred years old diatom cells. Please feel free to explore the related publications:
Olofsson M, Robertson EK, Edler L, Arneborg L, Whitehouse MJ, Ploug H (2019) Nitrate and ammonium fluxes to diatoms and dinoflagellates at a single cell level in mixed field communities in the sea. Sci Rep. 9: 1424.
Olofsson M, Kourtchenko O, Zetsche E-M, Marchant H, Whitehouse MJ, Godhe A, Ploug H (2019) High single-cell diversity in carbon and nitrogen assimilations by a chain-forming diatom across a century. Environ Microbiol. 21(1): 142-151
Olofsson M, Karlberg M, Lage S, Ploug H (2017) Phytoplankton community composition and primary production in the tropical tidal ecosystem, Maputo Bay (the Indian Ocean). J Sea Res. 125: 18-25
Olofsson M, Egardt J, Singh A, Ploug H (2016) Inorganic phosphorus enrichments in Baltic Sea water have large effects on growth, carbon fixation and N2fixation by Nodularia spumigena. Aquat Microb Ecol 77:111-123
Klawonn I, Nahar N, Walve J, Andersson B, Olofsson M,Svedén BJ, Littmann S, Whitehouse MJ, Kuypers MMM, Ploug H (2016) Cell-specific nitrogen- and carbon-fixation of cyanobacteria in a temperate marine system (Baltic Sea) Environ Microb 18(12): 4596-4609