Kingdom Monera Nutrition - Phototrophic Bacteria

Description:

Photosynthetic bacteria are those which can synthesize their own food with the help of light. Photosynthetic bacteria possess photosynthetic pigments which are of two types −

• Bacteriochlorophyll − Found in Purple bacteria.
• Bacteriophaeophytin − Found in Green bacteria.

The photosynthetic pigments occur in the membranes of thylakoids. Some of the important properties of photosynthetic bacteria are −

• No oxygen is evolved in bacterial photosynthesis hence called anoxygenic photosynthesis.

• Water is not used as a source of reducing power instead hydrogen is obtained directly from various inorganic and organic compound.

• The compounds mostly used are hydrogen sulphide, sodium thiosulpate, propyl alcohol. Hydrogen from these sources is picked up by NAD⁺.

• Since these photoautotrophic bacteria do not require oxygen, these monerans live comfortably near the bottoms of ponds and lakes where reduced Sulphur and other compounds are freely available. The oxygen content is very low at these places.