SYNOPTIC DESCRIPTION OF THE KINGDOM OXYPHOTOBACTERIA [ex GIBBONS AND MURRAY 1978 (MURRAY 1988)] ( AND ITS SINGLE PHYLUM CYANOBACTERIA (STANIER 1974)
| EUBACTERIA> OXYPHOTOBACTERIA> CYANOBACTERIA |
KINGDOM OXYPHOTOBACTERIA LINKS
| The following description comes mainly from Margulis and Schwartz (1998), Barnes (1984), and Brock et al. (1994). |
I. SYNONYMS: Blue-green algae, blue-green bacteria, Cyanoprokaryota.
II. PHYLUM CHARACTERISTICS:
- A. Structure
- Cell Form: Variable; cocci (text with tooltip) A coccus (cocci, pl.) is a spherical cell form. , rods (text with tooltip) A rod is an elongated cell form such that it has distinct ends (called poles) , spirals (text with tooltip) A spiral is a cell form that is a cork-screw shaped rod ; often colonial or filamentous (text with tooltip) A filament is a linear array of cells. In the Cyanobacteria, a filament is the linear array of cells (trichome) plus the surrounding mucilaginous sheath. ; limited cellular differentiation ( heterocysts (text with tooltip) Heterocysts are special cells in certain Cyanobacteria that have the ability to fix nitrogen into a biologically usable form. The heterocysts have a morphology that is different from the vegetative cells (usually nearly clear) and generate ATP through photophosphorylation to drive the enzymatic energy necessary to fix nitrogen. and akinetes (text with tooltip) Akinetes (n.) are special cells in certain filamentous Cyanobacteria that likely serve as asexual reproductive structures. ).
- Cell Wall: Gram- (text with tooltip) A Gram - cell loses the blue-black crystal-violet color following destaining with alcohol during the Gram Stain procedure. Then, it takes on the color of the counterstain, typically iodine. ; outer layer of wall often forming a sheath, generally confluent in filamentous and colonial forms.
- Motility: Non-motile, but some have the ability to glide.
- B. Physiology
- O2 Tolerance: Aerobic.
- Substrates: Use H2O as electron donor in oxygenic photosynthesis (that is, CO2 is fixed or reduced to organic form).
- Products: Oxygen and organic carbon; many produce toxins. Most are able to fix nitrogen (text with tooltip) Nitrogen fixation is the ability to use energy to take nitrogen gas and reduce it to ammonium, nitrite, or nitrate. The initial step requires a nitrogenase enzyme and the energy of about 38 ATP molecules to fix one nitrogen molecule. .
- C. Other: They contain chlorophyll a (text with tooltip) Chlorophyll A is a primary photosynthetic pigment of all photosynthetic eukaryotes (in the chloroplasts) and Cyanobacteria. It is membrane-bound on thyllakoids and absorbs mainly in the blue and red ranges of visible light. Its structure is that of a tetrapyrrole with a magnesium in the center. That is bound to a long aliphatic alcohol (phytol). Chlorophylls a, b, c, d, and e, together with the bacteriochlorophylls have similar structures and vary only in the structures of their side chains. (some also have chlorophyll b (text with tooltip) Chlorophyll B is a secondary photosynthetic pigment in the Prochlorophytes, Euglenoids, Chlorophytes, and the Viridiplantae. See Chlorophyll A. ) and phycobiliproteins (text with tooltip) Phycobiliproteins are proteinaceous pigments (e.g. phycoerythrin and phycocyanin) that occur in certain algae (Cyanobacteria and Rhodophyta). associated with thylakoids (text with tooltip) Thylakoids are membranes, usually stacked, on which the photosynthetic pigments and enzymes are located. ; large, resting cysts called akinetes (text with tooltip) Akinetes (n.) are special cells in certain filamentous Cyanobacteria that likely serve as asexual reproductive structures. ; nitrogen-fixing cells called heterocysts (text with tooltip) Heterocysts are special cells in certain Cyanobacteria that have the ability to fix nitrogen into a biologically usable form. The heterocysts have a morphology that is different from the vegetative cells (usually nearly clear) and generate ATP through photophosphorylation to drive the enzymatic energy necessary to fix nitrogen. . They have evolved numerous reproductive structures including hormogonia (text with tooltip) Hormogonia are short fragments of trichomes contained within a common sheath. They are formed by the death of periodic vegetative cells in the trichome. Hormogonia can be a means of asexual reproduction in Cyanobacteria. , akenites, endospores (text with tooltip) Endospores are produced within the bounds of the parent cell. , and exospores (text with tooltip) Exospores are spores that 'bud off' of the vegetative cells or asexual structures. .
- D. Ecology: Found in aquatic environments, usually abundant in those which contain high levels of phosphate. Some are terrestrial, marine, symbionts (text with tooltip) Symbiotic (adj.) literally means 'living together'. Its usual meaning is that two species have a necessary association. However, strictly applied symbiosis varies from parasitism, to commensalism, to mutalism. with plants and fungi.
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| By Jack R. Holt. Last revised: 02/11/2013 |
