Cyanobacteria
| Cyanobacteria | |
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| File:Anabaena sperica.jpeg | |
| Anabaena sphaerica (Nostocales) | |
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| Division: | Cyanobacteria
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The taxonomy of the | |
Cyanobacteria (Greek: κυανοs = blue) is a phylum (or "division") of Bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. They are often referred to as blue-green algae. The description is primarily used to reflect their appearance and ecological role rather than their evolutionary lineage. Fossil traces of cyanobacteria have been found from around 3.8 billion years ago (b.y.a.). See: Stromatolite. As soon as these blue-green bacteria evolved, they became the dominant metabolism for producing fixed carbon in the form of sugars from carbon dioxide. Cyanobacteria are now one of the largest and most important groups of bacteria on earth.
Forms
Cyanobacteria include unicellular, colonial, and filamentous forms. Some filamentous cyanophytes form differentiated cells, called heterocysts, that are specialized for nitrogen fixation, and resting or spore cells called akinetes. Each individual cell typically has a thick, gelatinous cell wall, which stains gram-negative. The cyanophytes lack flagella, but may move about by gliding along surfaces. Most are found in fresh water, while others are marine, occur in damp soil, or even temporarily moistened rocks in deserts. A few are endosymbionts in lichens, plants, various protists, or sponges and provide energy for the host. Some live in the fur of sloths, providing a form of camouflage.
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis in cyanobacteria generally uses water as an electron donor and produces oxygen as a by-product, though some may also use hydrogen sulfide as occurs among other photosynthetic bacteria. Carbon dioxide is reduced to form carbohydrates via the Calvin cycle. In most forms the photosynthetic machinery is embedded into folds of the cell membrane, called thylakoids. The large amounts of oxygen in the atmosphere are considered to have been first created by the activities of ancient cyanobacteria. Due to their ability to fix nitrogen in aerobic conditions they are often found as symbionts with a number of other groups of organisms such as fungi (lichens), corals, pteridophytes (Azolla), angiosperms (Gunnera) etc.
Cyanobacteria are the only group of organisms that are able to reduce nitrogen and carbon in aerobic conditions, a fact that may be responsible for their evolutionary and ecological success. The water-oxidizing photosynthesis is accomplished by coupling the activity of photosystem (PS) II and I. They are also able to use in anaerobic conditions only PS I—cyclic photophosphorylation—with electron donors other than water (hydrogen sulfide, thiosulphate, or even molecular hydrogen) just like purple photosynthetic bacteria. Furthermore, they share an archaebacterial property—the ability to reduce elemental sulfur by anaerobic respiration in the dark. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about these organisms is that their photosynthetic electron transport shares the same compartment as the components of respiratory electron transport. Actually, their plasma membrane contains only components of the respiratory chain, while the thylakoid membrane hosts both respiratory and photosynthetic electron transport.
Attached to thylakoid membrane, phycobilisomes act as light harvesting antennae for photosystem II . The phycobilisome components (phycobilin) are responsible for the blue-green pigmentation of most cyanobacteria. The variations to this theme is mainly due to carotenoids and phycoerythrins which give the cells the red-brownish coloration. In some cyanobacteria, the color of light influences the composition of phycobilisomes. In green light, the cells accumulates more phycoerythrin, whereas in red light they produce more phycocyanin. Thus the bacteria appears green in red light and red in green light. This process is known as complementary chromatic adaptation and is a way for the cells maximize the use of available light for photosynthesis.
A few genera, however, lack phycobilins and have chlorophyll b as well as chlorophyll a, giving them a bright green colour. These were originally grouped together as the prochlorophytes or chloroxybacteria, but appear to have developed in several different lines of cyanobacteria.
Relationship to chloroplasts
Chloroplasts found in eukaryotes (algae and higher plants) most likely represent reduced endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. This endosymbiotic theory is supported by various structural and genetic similarities. Primary chloroplasts are found among the green plants, where they contain chlorophyll b, and among the red algae and glaucophytes, where they contain phycobilins. It now appears that these chloroplasts probably had a single origin. Other algae likely took their chloroplasts from these forms by secondary endosymbiosis or ingestion.
Classification
The cyanobacteria were traditionally classified by morphology into five sections, referred to by the numerals I-V. The first three - Chroococcales, Pleurocapsales, and Oscillatoriales - are not supported by phylogenetic studies. However, the latter two - Nostocales and Stigonematales - are monophyletic, and make up the heterocystous cyanobacteria.
Most taxa included in the phylum or division Cyanobacteria have not been validly published under the Bacteriological Code. Except:
- The classes Chroobacteria, Hormogoneae and Gloeobacteria
- The orders Chroococcales, Gloeobacterales, Nostocales, Oscillatoriales, Pleurocapsales and Stigonematales
- The families Prochloraceae and Prochlorotrichaceae
- The genera Halospirulina, Planktothricoides, Prochlorococcus, Prochloron, Prochlorothrix.
Biotechnology and applications
Certain cyanobacteria produce cyanotoxins like Anatoxin-a, Anatoxin-as, Aplysiatoxin, Cylindrospermopsin, Domoic acid, Microcystin LR, Nodularin R (from Nodularia), or Saxitoxin. Sometimes a mass-reproduction of cyanobacteria results in algal blooms.
The unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was the first photosynthetic organism whose genome was completely sequenced (in 1996, by the Kazusa Research Institute, Japan). It continues to be an important model organism.
At least one secondary metabolite, cyanovirin, has shown to possess anti-HIV activity.
See hypolith for an example of cyanobacteria living in extreme conditions.
Some cyanobacteria are sold as food, notably Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (E3live) and Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina). It has been suggested that they could be a much more substantial part of human food supplies, as a kind of superfood.
References
- Gillian Cribbs (1997) Nature's Superfood, the Blue-Green Algae Revolution. Newleaf. ISBN 0-752-20569-2
- Marshall Savage, (1992, 1994) The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps. Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-77163-5
- Dyer, Betsey D. A Field Guide to Bacteria. Ithaca: Comstock Publishing Associates, 2003.
- Fogg, G.E., Stewart, W.D.P., Fay, P.and Walsby, A.E. 1973. The Blue-green Algae. Academic Press, London and New York.
- "Architects of the earth's atmosphere." Introduction to the Cyanobacteria. Berkeley. 03 Feb. 2006 .