Cyanobacteria: Producers of the World's First Oxygen
Cyanobacteria are a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis and are the only photosynthetic prokaryotes able to produce oxygen. The name cyanobacteria comes from the color of the bacteria, often blue-green in color.
Cyanobacteria are thought to have produced the world’s first oxygen. Cyanobacteria today produce 30-40% of the world’s oxygen. They are also responsible for the first mass extinction of animal life on the planet – the extinction of organisms that required no oxygen to live. They are among the oldest lifeforms on earth, a whopping 3.5 billion years old. They gave rise to all oxygen-loving animals and they gave rise to every plant in the world.
Cyanobacteria are thought to have produced the world’s first oxygen. Cyanobacteria today produce 30-40% of the world’s oxygen. They are also responsible for the first mass extinction of animal life on the planet – the extinction of organisms that required no oxygen to live. They are among the oldest lifeforms on earth, a whopping 3.5 billion years old. They gave rise to all oxygen-loving animals and they gave rise to every plant in the world.
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Because of the age of Clear Lake, it is possible that it contains cyanobacteria that have not yet been discovered. |
Cyanobacteria are one of the |
Cyanobacteria already identified in Clear Lake include:
Aphanizomenon
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Microcystis
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Anabaena
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Gloeotrichia
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Many cyanobacteria can make their own nitrogen fertilizer from nitrogen gas in the air. Cyanobacteria help farmers grow rice without using nitrogen fertilizer.
Scientists are beginning to look at the multitude of molecules produced by cyanobacteria as part of their normal life processes to find a cure for Alzheimer's, cancer and drug-resistant bacteria.
