You are here:
How Cyanobacteria Work: Converting Sunlight Into Usable Energy
Citation:
Boegehold, A. AND N. Dugan. How Cyanobacteria Work: Converting Sunlight Into Usable Energy. Small Systems Webinar, Cincinnati, OH, May 25, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation is intended to provide a brief overview of the process by which cyanobacteria convert sunlight into chemical energy, in the form of NADPH and ATP, that can be used by cells for growth and maintenance. This presentation is intended to be accessible to an audience of state primacy agency personnel, regional office personnel, and drinking water treatment plant operators who are not trained in microbiology but who desire to gain additional insight into the processes that drive cyanobacterial bloom development.
Description:
This is a presentation to be delivered as part of the ORD/OW Small Systems Webinar series on May 25, 2021. It discusses the basics of how cyanobacteria convert the energy in solar radiation into chemical bond energy in ATP and NADPH. ATP and NADPH can then be used throughout the cell for growth, maintenance, and reproduction. Topics discussed in the presentation include light harvesting antenna complexes, thylakoid membranes, photosystems I and II, the absorption spectra of chlorophyll and other light-harvesting pigments, and differences between cyanobacteria and green algae.