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The new bioreactor, identified as a flat-bed reactor, provides an environment for the large-scale production of cyanobacteria under a controlled environment. The organism was observed to form colonies similar to those found in field material, and can be induced to form UV-protective pigments when exposed to UV-light. Thus, it can be concluded that the fermentor is a superior reactor for looking into how N. commune deals with stresses such as desiccation and UV-light. However, the carbohydrate analysis indicates that the airlift fermentor is superior to the flatbed reactor for obtaining large quantities of polysaccharide.