E. F. Y. Hom

This study identifies LAO1 as the enzyme responsible for auxin production in Chlamydomonas under nitrogen limitation, revealing its dual role in nitrogen scavenging and auxin synthesis, which influences algal-bacterial interactions.

The paper shows that in a yeast-alga mutualism, adaptive mutations in yeast tend to enhance mutualism strength when the alga is present, despite no direct selection for cooperation.