Genome Size of Cyanobacteria

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Abstract
The genome sizes of 128 strains of cyanobacteria, representative of all major taxonomic groups, lie in the range 1.6 .times. 109-8.6 .times. 109 daltons. The majority of unicellular cyanobacteria contain genomes of 1.6 .times. 109-2.7 .times. 109 daltons, comparable in size to those of other bacteria, whereas most pleurocapsalean and filamentous strains possess larger genomes. The genome sizes are discontinuously distributed into 4 distinct groups which have means of 2.2 .times. 109, 3.6 .times. 109, 5.0 .times. 109 and 7.4 .times. 109 daltons. Genome evolution in cyanobacteria apparently occurred by a series of duplications of a small ancestral genome. The complex morphological organization characteristic of many cyanobacteria may have arisen as a result of this process.
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