Cyanobacteria evolved the oxygenic photosynthesis to generate organic matter from CO and sunlight, and they were responsible for the production of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. This made them a model for photosynthetic organisms, since they are easier to study than higher plants. Early studies suggested that only a minority among cyanobacteria might assimilate organic compounds, being considered mostly autotrophic for decades. However, compelling evidence from marine and freshwater cyanobacteria, including toxic strains, in the laboratory and in the field, has been obtained in the last decades: by using physiological and omics approaches, mixotrophy has been found to be a more widespread feature than initially believed. Furthermore, dominant clades of marine cyanobacteria can take up organic compounds, and mixotrophy is critical for their survival in deep waters with very low light. Hence, mixotrophy seems to be an essential trait in the metabolism of most cyanobacteria, which can be exploited for biotechnological purposes.

中文翻译：

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蓝细菌的混合营养

蓝细菌进化出了含氧光合作用，从二氧化碳和阳光中产生有机物，它们负责在地球大气中产生氧气。这使它们成为光合生物的模型，因为它们比高等植物更容易研究。早期研究表明，只有少数蓝藻可以吸收有机化合物，几十年来一直被认为主要是自养的。然而，过去几十年来，在实验室和现场从海洋和淡水蓝藻（包括有毒菌株）中获得了令人信服的证据：通过使用生理学和组学方法，发现混合营养是比最初认为的更广泛的特征。此外，海洋蓝藻的优势分支可以吸收有机化合物，混合营养对于它们在光线极弱的深水中生存至关重要。因此，混合营养似乎是大多数蓝细菌代谢的一个重要特征，可用于生物技术目的。