Cyanobacteria vs green algae: Which group has the edge?

Abstract

The dogma surrounding carbon assimilation has it that, due to their highly effective CO2-concentrating mechanisms, cyanobacteria will always out-perform, for example, green algae where inorganic carbon is in short supply. Working on the cyanobacterial genus Microcystis, Ji et al. (2017) now suggest this might not always be true, with possible improved performance with rises in atmospheric (and hence dissolved) CO2. Many cyanobacteria form extensive toxic blooms that present significant health risks and economic costs: How they will react in a future world with elevated CO2 and temperature is thus of intense interest for water management.