The members of Chroococales are unicellular and usually aggregate in colonies. The classic taxonomic criterion has been the cell morphology and the plane of cell division. In Pleurocapsales, the cells have the ability to form internal spores (baeocytes). The rest of the sections include filamentous species. In Oscillatoriales, the cells are uniseriately arranged and do not form specialized cells (akinetes and heterocysts).[11] In Nostocales and Stigonematales, the cells have the ability to develop heterocysts in certain conditions. Stigonematales, unlike Nostocales, include species with truly branched trichomes.[9]
Most taxa included in the phylum or division Cyanobacteria have not yet been validly published under The International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) except:
蓝菌的次生代谢产物微囊藻毒素(英语:Microcystin)有非常強的毒性,可能會嚴重损害肝脏[15],引致肝癌[16]。1996至1999年間,美國俄勒冈健康部門(Oregon Health Division)曾對市面上87種藍菌及螺旋藻保健食品進行測試,發現其中竟然有85種保健食品均含有微囊藻毒素。[17]
^Von Nägeli C. Caspary R , 编. Bericht über die Verhandlungen der 33. Versammlung deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte, gehalten in Bonn von 18 bis 24 September 1857 [Report on the Proceedings of the 33rd Meeting of German Natural Scientists and Physicians, held in Bonn, 18 to 24 September 1857]. Botanische Zeitung. 1857, 15: 749–76.
^ 9.09.1Gugger MF, Hoffmann L. Polyphyly of true branching cyanobacteria (Stigonematales). International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. March 2004, 54 (Pt 2): 349–57. PMID 15023942. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.02744-0.
^Howard-Azzeh M, Shamseer L, Schellhorn HE, Gupta RS. Phylogenetic analysis and molecular signatures defining a monophyletic clade of heterocystous cyanobacteria and identifying its closest relatives. Photosynthesis Research. November 2014, 122 (2): 171–85. PMID 24917519. S2CID 17745718. doi:10.1007/s11120-014-0020-x.