Cyanobacterial metabolites with bioactivity against photosynthesis in cyanobacteria, algae and higher plants

Cyanobacteria produce a large number and variety of bioactive allelochemical substances, with a diverse range of biological activities and chemical structures, and with effects on many biochemical processes within cells. An increasing number of such metabolites is being found to be directed against oxygenic photosynthetic processes, which, in the microbial world, are unique to algae and cyanobacteria. Such chemicals are likely to be involved in regulating natural populations, and are potentially useful as biochemical tools, and as herbicidal or biocontrol agents.