Cyanobacteria
Ancient photosynthetic bacteria that oxygenated Earth's atmosphere.
Last updated
Lamiot · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cyanobacteria first appeared in the middle Archean eon, originating in a freshwater or terrestrial environment.[1] By continuously producing oxygen over billions of years, they converted Earth's early anoxic atmosphere into an oxidizing one.[2] This process resulted in the Great Oxidation Event and dramatically changed the composition of life forms on Earth.[2] The adaptation of early single-celled organisms to oxygen-rich environments likely led to endosymbiosis between anaerobes and aerobes, resulting in the evolution of eukaryotes during the Paleoproterozoic.[2]
The bluish-green (cyan) color of these bacteria is the origin of their name "cyanobacteria" and their informal common name, blue-green algae.[1]
Scientific classification
- DomainBacteria
- KingdomBacillati
- PhylumCyanobacteriota
Named by Oren et al., 2022
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Cyanobacteria (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Quick Facts
- First appeared
- middle Archean eon
- Phylum
- Cyanobacteriota
- Metabolism
- oxygenic photosynthesis
- Key pigments
- chlorophyll
- carotenoids
- phycobilins
- Known for
- first organisms to produce oxygen; caused the Great Oxidation Event
Facts from the source article.
What the research sources say
The Basic Biology account states that cyanobacteria are found almost everywhere on Earth, including hot deserts and Antarctica.[3] By fixing atmospheric nitrogen and carbon dioxide, cyanobacteria changed the environment of Earth.[3] The Basic Biology account also notes that cyanobacteria are believed to be the predecessor to all plants.[3] The WebExhibits source explains that the Red Sea is named for occasional blooms of the cyanobacterium Trichodesmium erythraeum.[4]
According to WebExhibits, the relative abundance of phycobilin pigments explains the color of cyanobacteria.[4] The Microbiology Notes source states that cyanobacteria possess chlorophyll-a, while most bacteria do not contain chlorophyll.[5]
References
- Wikipedia, "Cyanobacteria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sánchez-Baracaldo, "Origin of marine planktonic cyanobacteria", Scientific Reports, December 2015; "The Marine Microbiome: An Untapped Source of Biodiversity and Biotechnological Potential", Springer Science+Business Media, 2016; ; .; "Life History and Ecology of Cyanobacteria", University of California Museum of Paleontology; "Taxonomy Browser – Cyanobacteria", National Center for Biotechnology Information; "Algae", Oxford University Press, 1992 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cyanobacteria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Ecology of Cyanobacteria II: Their Diversity in Space and Time", Springer Science+Business Media, 2012, p. 17; "Bacteria", Basic Biology, 18 March 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Bacteria", Basic Biology, 18 March 2016. facts only, no text reused. basicbiology.net
- "Colors from bacteria Causes of Color", www.webexhibits.org. facts only, no text reused. webexhibits.org
- "Differences between Bacteria and Cyanobacteria", Microbiology Notes, 2015-10-29. facts only, no text reused. microbiologynotes.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Cyanobacteria (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Higher-Level Taxonomy & Evolution
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Cyanobacteria (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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