Cyanobacteria have an interesting trick to harvest sunlight during light fluctuations. In darkness, the cells prepare for a subsequent increase in light intensity by adopting a larger light-harvesting antenna. Researchers of Wageningen University and the University of Turku, Finland describe the mechanism in a study that appeared online in Nature Scientific Reports.
Cyanobacteria are ancient single-celled aquatic organisms, also known as blue-green algae: their blue color arises from their big light-harvesting pigment-protein complexes. These complexes contain blue pigments that are most sensitive to orange-green light, which can penetrate deeply into the water. Cyanobacteria contribute substantially to the global fixation of carbon dioxide, and knowledge about their photosynthetic strategies may contribute to original solutions for energy sustainability.