Editing Cyanobacteria (section)

=== Carbon fixation ===
The [[thylakoids]] of cyanobacteria use the energy of [[sunlight]] to drive [[photosynthesis]], a process where the energy of light is used to synthesize [[organic compound]]s from carbon dioxide. Because they are aquatic organisms, they typically employ several strategies which are collectively known as a "{{CO2}} concentrating mechanism" to aid in the acquisition of inorganic carbon ({{CO2}} or [[bicarbonate]]). Among the more specific strategies is the widespread prevalence of the bacterial microcompartments known as [[carboxysome]]s,<ref name="KerfeldHeinhorst2010">{{cite journal | vauthors = Kerfeld CA, Heinhorst S, Cannon GC | title = Bacterial microcompartments | journal = Annual Review of Microbiology | volume = 64 | issue = 1 | pages = 391–408 | year = 2010 | pmid = 20825353 | pmc = 6022854 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.micro.112408.134211 }}</ref> which co-operate with active transporters of CO<sub>2</sub> and bicarbonate, in order to accumulate bicarbonate into the cytoplasm of the cell.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rae BD, Long BM, Badger MR, Price GD | title = Functions, compositions, and evolution of the two types of carboxysomes: polyhedral microcompartments that facilitate CO2 fixation in cyanobacteria and some proteobacteria | journal = Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews | volume = 77 | issue = 3 | pages = 357–379 | date = September 2013 | pmid = 24006469 | pmc = 3811607 | doi = 10.1128/MMBR.00061-12 }}</ref> Carboxysomes are [[Icosahedron|icosahedral]] structures composed of hexameric shell proteins that assemble into cage-like structures that can be several hundreds of nanometres in diameter. It is believed that these structures tether the {{CO2}}-fixing enzyme, [[RuBisCO]], to the interior of the shell, as well as the enzyme [[carbonic anhydrase]], using [[metabolic channeling]] to enhance the local {{CO2}} concentrations and thus increase the efficiency of the RuBisCO enzyme.<ref name="LongBadger2007">{{cite journal | vauthors = Long BM, Badger MR, Whitney SM, Price GD | title = Analysis of carboxysomes from Synechococcus PCC7942 reveals multiple Rubisco complexes with carboxysomal proteins CcmM and CcaA | journal = The Journal of Biological Chemistry | volume = 282 | issue = 40 | pages = 29323–29335 | date = October 2007 | pmid = 17675289 | doi = 10.1074/jbc.M703896200 | doi-access = free }}</ref>