Cynobacteria is actually a bacteria which is also called blue green algae, but we also include it in alge too. So,what is it actually - bacteria or algae? what all are its characteristics?
Answers
Cyanobacteria /saɪˌænoʊbækˈtɪəriə/, also known as Cyanophyta, is a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy throughphotosynthesis.[4] The name "cyanobacteria" comes from the color of the bacteria (Greek: κυανός (kyanós) = blue). They are often called blue-green algae, although the name is sometimes considered a misnomer because cyanobacteria areprokaryotes and the term "algae" is often reserved for eukaryotes.[5]
Like other prokaryotes, cyanobacteria have no internal membrane bound organelles. They perform photosynthesis in distinctive folds in the outer membrane, unlike green plants which use organelles called chloroplasts. Symbiogenesis argues that the chloroplasts found in plants and eukaryotic algae evolved from cyanobacterial ancestors via endosymbiosis.
By producing oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis, cyanobacteria are thought to have converted the early reducing atmosphere into an oxidizing one, causing the "rusting of the Earth"[6] and causing the Great Oxygenation Event, dramatically changing the composition of life forms on Earth by stimulating biodiversity and leading to the near-extinction ofanaerobic organisms (that is, oxygen-intolerant).