We understand that particularly the case of Synechoccocus needs clarification and have thus extended the explanation there: “Sequences termed Synechococcus on the other hand were analysed together with sequences of the monophyletic clade Prochlorococcus, since Synechococcus is known to be a polyphyletic group and if all sequences (including a minimum of five lineages [36–38]) are taken together, Prochlorococcus has to be included, too”.
Summary: The manuscript is surely useful and, in principle, it presents a good contribution to the recent methodological trends (polyphasic approach) in cyanobacterial taxonomy, this conclusion should be the main result from this work.