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Title: What do cyanophages do to dead photosynthetic organisms? Post by: Morbesety on Sep 29, 2010 What do cyanophages do to dead photosynthetic organisms? How do they do it? Why are they called 'cyanophages'?
short and sweet please ;D Title: Re: What do cyanophages do to dead photosynthetic organisms? Post by: bio_man on Sep 29, 2010 Cyanophages are like bacteriophages in that they infect bacteria (cyanobacteria). Therefore, a cyanophage is essentially a virus that infects cyanobacteria. The virus uses the cyanobacteria to replicate once it has injected its genetic code into the bacteria. Because of the important role of cyanobacteria as primary producers in the world's oceans, the study of their phage ecology is important toward understanding global carbon cycling.
The name is constructed from the term phage, for a virus that targets bacteria, and cyanobacteria for the specific type of bacteria this virus uses for replication. |