ABSTRACT
Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae as they were called, are a group of bacteria that obtain their energy through oxygenic photosynthesis (for a perspective, see [1]; for evolution, see [2]).Cyanobacteria converted the early reducing atmosphere into an oxidizing one and changed the composition of life forms on Earth. The consensus is that chloroplasts in plants and eukaryotic algae have evolved from cyanobacterial ancestors via endosymbiosis [3]. In this chapter, we will discuss the structure and function of the water-oxidizing complex (WOC) in cyanobacteria [4,5].
