Perhaps the article us above your paygrade?
doubt that. Undergrad in marine physiology for Marine Science.
FWIW I was writing to this cycle: Ammonium to nitrite (nirosomonas bacteria)) -> Nitrite to nitrate (Nitrobacter) -> plant food.
WRT aquaponics, this is accomplished in an extant tank, or in media beds.
Diazotrophs that fix N2 have been known to science for some time.
That’s what I was harrumphing about.
LAst point and I’ll let it go. “We” have known about the cyanobacter that fix N2 in warmer marine environments for a long time.
Scientists started to understand diazotrophs in the 60s, and in the 70s when I was in school “we” were just beginning to dive deep into the chemistry of their metabolism.
HEre’s a decent paper from 2011 on the topic, if you care. https://website.whoi.edu/gfd/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2018/10/Sohm_et_al_2011_Nat_Rev_Microbiol_262065.pdf