What is true for cyanobacteria? (a) Oxygenic with nitrogenase (b) Oxygenic without nitrogenase (c) Non oxygenic with nitrogenase (d) Non oxygenic without nitrogenase
Option A Cyanobacteria are gram negative prokaryotes which are popularly known as bluegreen algae. Although cyanobacteria are true prokaryotes, but their photosynthetic system closely resembles with that of eukaryotes because they have chlorophyll a and photosystem II and they carry out oxygenic photosynthesis. Like the red algae, cyanobacteria use phycobiliproteins as accessory pigments. Photosynthetic pigments and electron transport chain components are located in thylakoid membranes lined with particles called phycobilisomes, which contain phycobilin pigments, particularly phycocyanin and transfer energy to photosystem II. They contain nitrogenase enzyme for nitrogen fixation. This enzyme becomes inactive in the presence of oxygen but the thick walled heterocysts provide suitable anaerobic enviornment for nitrogenase activity even in aerobic conditions.
