Appreciation for Cyanobacteria (and the humble species of the Nostoc genus)
âIt is certainly no exaggeration to say that we owe our existence in present form to cyanobacteria.â - Kartik Aiyer, PhD, University of Aarhus
Behind the Shady Hollow Community Center in southwest Austin, Texas is a concrete slab. It may be related to a water treatment facility that was decommissioned a couple decades ago. During dry weather, one can find at one end of it dark patches of crunchy stuff that most persons would probably think is leaf litter or unidentifiable crud. But, when it rains, runoff water puddles at that end of the slab and the crunchy black stuff quickly becomes dark-green icky glop when it rehydrates. Look closely. It is a species of a cyanobacteria of the Nostoc genus. Some sources indicate it can survive 100 years in the dehydrated state. Cyanobacteria are believed to have evolved on Earth about 3.5 billion years ago and the Nostoc species about 600 million years ago. I take a deep breath, feel the effects of oxygen in my lungs, and appreciate the indispensable contribution that humble cyanobacteria made to my very existence. I have included photos that show the Nostoc from a distance and up close to reveal its photosynthetic chlorophyll.
https://asm.org/articles/2022/february/the-great-oxidation-event-how-cyanobacteria-change
#Nature #Evolution #Biology #Cyanobacteria #Nostoc #Oxygen #Aarhus #Denmark #TIL