cyanobacterium

English

Etymology

From cyano- + bacterium.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɪəɹiəm

Noun

cyanobacterium (plural cyanobacteria)

  1. (biology) Any of very many photosynthetic prokaryotic microorganisms, of phylum Cyanobacteria, once known as blue-green algae.
    • 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, published 2003, page 262:
      At some point in the first billion years of life, cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, learned to tap into a freely available resource – the hydrogen that exists in spectacular abundance in water.
    • 2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 91:
      Photosynthesis was established some billion years ago by ancient bacterial precursors of modern cyanobacteria.

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