A Review of General Properties of Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria)

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are a photosynthetic Gram-negative bacteria that found in all habitat and usually in water. About two-thirds of the species studied are able to fix nitrogen, and thus participate in the nitrogen cycle. Cyanobacteria contain three pigments, green, blue and red. The green pigment is chlorophyll and helps it in photosynthesis. The blue dye is what gives it the blue color, and the reason for that is due to the abundance of blue dye inside it. As for the red pigment, it is beta-carotene, so we infer its presence from the flamingo bird. When the flamingo drinks water, cyanobacteria enter its body, and the pink color appears on some parts of its body. Cyanobacteria are currently considered a group of germs, so they are also called cyanobacteria. It has been completely shown that they are not closely related to plants, as they are not related to plants in any way (contrary to what was expected), nor to fungi or animals. Cyanobacteria are a variety of Gram-positive bacteria present in a range of different environmental locations such as soil, vegetables, sewage, skin and skin blotches. Some such as Corynebacterium diphtheriae are pathogens while others such as Corynebacterium glutamicum are of enormous industrial importance. C. glutamicum is a biotechnologically important bacterium with an annual production of more than two tons of the amino acids Polycomb group and lysine.