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Good stuff Sk8r. They are truly amazing organisms.

Cyanobacteria are generally believed to be one of the first life forms to evolve on earth. They have been around for 3.5 Billion (with a B) years. They pretty much had the planet to themselves for almost half of the history of the earth. They have survived all of the natural disasters that wiped out so many other species.

Cyanobacteria have evolved through every type of environment conceivable. They can live under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. Given light they can make their own oxygen. Without light they can live on organic carbon like any other bacterium. Under anaerobic conditions, they have any number of final electron acceptors to use in respiration. They can even reduce elemental sulfur to do their respiration. They can fix their own nitrogen if they need to, making the nitrate that they need directly from nitrogen gas. They can obtain phosphate from organic sources when there is none in the water.

Cyanobateria are found in every ecosystem you can imagine. There are species that live in ice, in hot sulfur springs, freshwater, saltwater, dry earth, mud, or any other thing you throw at them. After three and a half billion years of survival, you pick up on a few tricks.

With all of that said, it is a wonder to me that we are able to grow anything other than cyanobacteria.