What is cyanobacteria?
Q: What is cyanobacteria?
A: Cyanobacteria are a taxon of bacteria which conduct photosynthesis. They are not algae, though they were once called blue-green algae. It is a phylum of bacteria, with about 1500 species.
Q: How long has the fossil record for cyanobacteria been around?
A: The fossil record for cyanobacteria has been around for at least 3,500 million years.
Q: What was the early atmosphere on Earth like?
A: The early atmosphere on Earth was largely reducing, meaning it did not contain oxygen.
Q: How did the presence of cyanobacteria affect the atmosphere?
A: The presence of cyanobacteria in stromatolites allowed them to photosynthesise and produce free oxygen, leading to a process called the Great Oxygenation Event which changed the atmosphere over time and eventually killed off most organisms that could not live in oxygen environments.
Q: What evidence supports endosymbiont theory?
A: Endosymbiont theory suggests that chloroplasts (plastids) descended from cyanobacteria and their DNA profile provides evidence for this claim.
Q: What does photosynthesis by cyanobacteria allow them to do?
A: Photosynthesis by cyanobacteria allows them to produce free oxygen in their environment.
Q: How long did it take for the Great Oxygenation Event to occur after photosynthesis began? A: It took about a billion years for the Great Oxygenation Event to occur after photosynthesis began by cyanbacteraia.
