Most mosses are colonized by nitrogen (N)-fixing cyanobacteria. This discovery is relatively recent, which can explain the large knowledge gaps the field is now tackling. For instance, while we have a good understanding of the abiotic controls (e.g. nutrient availability, increased temperature), we still do not know much about the biotic controls of N₂ fixation in mosses. I propose here that we should endeavour to position moss–cyanobacteria associations along the mutualism–parasitism continuum under varying abiotic conditions (e.g. nutrient availability). This would finally unravel the nature of the relationship between the partners and will be a big leap in our understanding of the evolution of plant–bacteria interactions using moss–cyanobacteria associations as a model system.

中文翻译：

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蓝藻-苔藓组合中固氮的生物和非生物控制

大多数苔藓被固氮 (N) 蓝藻定殖。这一发现是相对较新的，它可以解释该领域目前正在解决的巨大知识差距。例如，虽然我们对非生物控制（例如养分有效性、温度升高）有很好的了解，但我们对苔藓中 N _{2固定的生物控制仍然知之甚少。}我在这里建议我们应该努力在不同的非生物条件下（例如营养可用性）沿着共生-寄生连续体定位苔藓-蓝藻关联。这将最终揭示合作伙伴之间关系的性质，并将成为我们使用苔藓-蓝藻关联作为模型系统对植物-细菌相互作用进化的理解的一大飞跃。