Holly R. Rucker

The paper resurrects ancient nitrogenase enzymes and shows their nitrogen isotope signatures are similar to modern ones, suggesting evolutionary invariance and supporting the use of N-isotope biosignatures for detecting life.

The paper explains the evolutionary timing of nitrogenase isozymes by linking ecological competition for molybdenum to changes in environmental conditions after the Great Oxidation Event.

This study experimentally reconstructs an ancestral nitrogenase enzyme and shows it strictly requires ATP hydrolysis for N2 reduction, decoupling cofactor selection from environmental availability.