The Molecular Biology of Cyanobacteria

This work summarizes more than a decade of progress in analyzing the taxonomy, biochemistry, physiology, cellular differentiation and developmental biology of cyanobacteria by modern molecular methods, especially molecular genetics. During this period cyanobacterial molecular biologists have been 'studying those things that cyanobacteria do well', and they have made cyanobacteria the organisms of choice for detailed molecular analyses of oxygenic photosynthesis. Part 1 contains chapters describing the molecular evolution and taxonomy of the cyanobacteria, as well as chapters describing cyanelles and the origins of algal and higher plant chloroplasts. Also included are chapters describing the picoplanktonic, oceanic cyanobacteria and prochlorophytes, 'the other cyanobacteria'. Part 2 is devoted to a detailed description of structural and functional aspects of the cyanobacterial photosynthetic apparatus.