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cyanobacteria
Also known as: cyanobacterium, Cyanobacterium
Facts (25)
Sources
The role of extremophile microbiomes in terraforming Mars - Nature nature.com Nov 17, 2025 15 facts
claimChroococcidiopsis species of cyanobacteria demonstrate endurance under Mars-like conditions, including resistance to desiccation, UV radiation, and ionizing radiation.
claimCyanobacteria possess protective mechanisms including the production of UV-screening pigments like scytonemin and mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), the formation of thick extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) matrices, and a high capacity for anhydrobiosis.
claimTerrestrial Fe/Mn-rich rock varnishes, which are biomineralized by epilithic and endolithic microorganisms including cyanobacteria, bacteria, and fungi, provide a two-fold benefit to microbial communities: they allow the precipitation and accumulation of metals potentially toxic for life, and the Fe/Mn-oxyhydroxides mixtures serve as a UV shield against high irradiation, desiccation, and temperature extremes.
claimMosses and biocrusts, which are composed of cyanobacteria, green algae, lichens, fungi, and bryophytes, are considered promising candidates for early-stage ecological engineering on Mars due to their resilience and functional versatility.
claimCyanobacteria and microalgae are considered promising chassis for in situ resource utilization on Mars, specifically for oxygen production, CO₂ fixation, and primary biomass generation.
claimEndolithic consortia, often composed of phototrophs such as cyanobacteria and green algae in association with fungi or lichens, thrive in dry regions worldwide, including hot and cold deserts.
referenceCyanobacterium-based life-support systems are suitable for operation in a low-pressure, N2/CO2 atmosphere, which is relevant for Mars, according to the 2021 study 'A low-pressure, N2/CO2 atmosphere is suitable for Cyanobacterium-based life-support systems on Mars' published in Frontiers in Microbiology.
claimCyanobacteria are considered promising candidates for oxygen production, carbon fixation, and primary biomass input in future Martian biotechnological systems.
claimCyanobacteria are considered promising candidates for oxygen production and primary productivity on Mars due to their ability to combine oxygenic photosynthesis with stress tolerance mechanisms like desiccation resistance and UV shielding.
procedureControlled indoor microbial systems for Mars involve cultivating autotrophic organisms like cyanobacteria, algae, or fungi in closed-loop bioreactors or greenhouses to provide oxygen, recycle nutrients, and produce biomaterials such as carbonate bricks or fungal mycelium-based composites.
claimCyanobacteria, methanogens, and nitrogen-fixing bacteria are being studied for their potential to drive oxygen production, carbon cycling, and nitrogen assimilation under Martian environmental conditions.
claimCyanobacteria are capable of carbonate precipitation and nitrogen fixation in Artificial Martian Ground (AMG), as demonstrated in a 2023 study by V. Elbakidze, K. Doborjginidze, and N. D. Gharibashvili.
accountIn the BIOMEX mission, strains of the cyanobacteria genus Chroococcidiopsis were exposed to space vacuum and full solar radiation for over 1.5 years.
claimCyanobacteria are responsible for fixing carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the atmosphere on Earth.
claimActively selected or genetically modified cyanobacteria capable of fixing nitrogen under very low atmospheric availability are proposed as potential tools for terraforming Mars.
Plantae kingdom (Honors) - KaiserScience kaiserscience.wordpress.com 3 facts
claimCyanobacteria are ancient prokaryotic organisms whose ancestors were the first known organisms to produce oxygen.
claimThe definition of Kingdom Plantae includes all organisms that acquired their primary chloroplasts by directly engulfing cyanobacteria.
claimThe definition of Kingdom Plantae excludes brown algae, which are classified as a separate group of protist kingdoms, and blue-green algae, which are classified as Cyanobacteria.
5.9.1: Kingdom Plantae - Evolution and Phylogeny bio.libretexts.org Nov 24, 2025 2 facts
claimCyanobacteria capable of photosynthesis evolved before eukaryotic cells and were engulfed by larger bacterial cells to become chloroplasts.
claimRed algae, brown algae, golden algae, and stramenopiles became photosynthetic through secondary or tertiary endosymbiotic events, where they endosymbiosed cells that had already endosymbiosed a cyanobacterium.
Publications by Charles Cockell - School of Physics and Astronomy ph.ed.ac.uk 2 facts
referenceCharles Cockell published 'Survival of Akinetes (Resting-State Cells of Cyanobacteria) in Low Earth Orbit and Simulated Extraterrestrial Conditions' in Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres in 2010.
referenceCharles Cockell published research in the International Journal of Astrobiology (2013) titled "Cyanobacteria isolated from the high-intertidal zone: a model for studying the physiological prerequisites for survival in low Earth orbit," which uses intertidal cyanobacteria to model survival in space environments.
Life on the Edge: Bioprospecting Extremophiles for Astrobiology link.springer.com May 19, 2023 1 fact
referenceBaqué et al. (2016) demonstrated the preservation of biomarkers from cyanobacteria when mixed with Mars-like regolith and exposed to simulated Martian atmosphere and UV flux.
Hypothetical types of biochemistry - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
referenceBanack et al. (2012) reported that cyanobacteria produce N-(2-Aminoethyl)Glycine, a molecule that serves as a backbone for peptide nucleic acids (PNA), which may have been the first genetic molecules for life on Earth.
Ecologists Study the Interactions of Organisms and Their Environment nature.com 1 fact
claimProducer species, which form the foundation for all life, exhibit immense diversity ranging from cyanobacteria to large trees in tropical and temperate rainforests.