Why Cyanobacteria is the Most Important Organism that Ever Lived
JEREMY GAY7 DAYS AGO
The word Cyano conjures up images of nuisance “algae,” slimy, stinking bacterial sheets that plague our aquariums, smothering our plants, decor, and corals and bringing misery to reefkeepers all over the world. Cyanobacteria is a scourge, an indicator of poor water health, and a killer even in some circumstances, but for the first time ever we’re actually going to fight the case FOR this Terrabacteria, for Cyanobacteria is the most important lifeform that ever lived on Earth. Here’s why…
The background
Three billion years ago the Earth was made up of rock and water. Simple bacteria – the first life on Earth – existed in shallow rockpools at the edge of the ocean but it was trapped under a toxic orange atmosphere made up of methane and carbon dioxide. The sun did pierce through those orange skies however and cell mutations became rod-shaped cyanobacteria which for the first time ever, could capture the sun rays and store glucose. Cyanobacteria was the first thing ever to photosynthesize and make its own food, and that ability to break water into hydrogen and oxygen changed the chemistry of our world forever. It also created our atmosphere.The cyanobacteria produced oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis. They didn’t need it and released it as waste bubbles into the water. For half a billion years cyanobacteria photosynthesized – the only life in the ocean – the oxygen not breaking the surface but reacting with metals dissolved in the water. Oxygen turned the iron to rust, covering the ocean floor and turning the seas red. Once the iron had been flushed from the water the oxygen could break free into the atmosphere, and for the first time in the Earth’s history, and over millions of years the atmosphere started to transform.
For more information, please visit the original article located in this thread:
Why Cyanobacteria is the Most Important Organism that Ever Lived | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog
The word Cyano conjures up images of nuisance “algae,” slimy, stinking bacterial sheets that plague our aquariums, smothering our plants, decor, and corals and bringing misery to reefkeepers all over…
reefbuilders.com