Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria are a group of bacteria that appears to be the first on Earth which evolved the ability to use solar energy for producing sugars. This process – photosynthesis – is now widespread among all green plants. Thanks to photosynthesis there is also the abundance of oxygen in the air, which is essential for breathing. Cyanobacteria cell is, unlike the cells of plants, very simple. It is a prokaryotic type of cell, thus it has no internal structure. Like other bacteria, cyanobacteria cell is surrounded by the plasma membrane and the cell wall. There is a cytoplasm located inside the cell, in which e.g. ribosomes and cellular DNA can be found. Compared to other bacteria, cyanobacteria have very rugged cell membrane, with many internal protrusions. These protrusions are called Thylakoids and there it is, on the units called Phycobilisomes, where photosynthesis takes place.