Phycobilins (from Greek: φύκος (phykos) meaning "alga", and from Latin: bilis meaning "bile") are light-capturing bilins found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of red algae, glaucophytes and some cryptomonads (though not in green algae and plants).[1] Most of their molecules consist of a chromophore which makes them coloured.[1] They are unique among the photosynthetic pigments in that they are bonded to certain water-soluble proteins, known as phycobiliproteins. Phycobiliproteins then pass the light energy to chlorophylls for photosynthesis.[1]
The phycobilins are especially efficient at absorbing red, orange, yellow, and green light, wavelengths that are not well absorbed by chlorophyll a.[2] Organisms growing in shallow waters tend to contain phycobilins that can capture yellow/red light,[3] while those at greater depth often contain more of the phycobilins that can capture green light, which is relatively more abundant there.
The phycobilins fluoresce at a particular wavelength, and are, therefore, often used in research as chemical tags, e.g., by binding phycobiliproteins to antibodies in a technique known as immunofluorescence.[4]
^ abcFrank, H. A.; Cogdell, R. J. (2012-01-01), Egelman, Edward H. (ed.), "8.6 Light Capture in Photosynthesis", Comprehensive Biophysics, Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 94–114, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-374920-8.00808-0, ISBN 978-0-08-095718-0, retrieved 2024-01-04
^González, A.; Sevilla, E.; Bes, M. T.; Peleato, M. L.; Fillat, M. F. (2016-01-01), "Chapter Five - Pivotal Role of Iron in the Regulation of Cyanobacterial Electron Transport", in Poole, Robert K. (ed.), Advances in Bacterial Electron Transport Systems and Their Regulation, Advances in Microbial Physiology, vol. 68, Academic Press, pp. 169–217, doi:10.1016/bs.ampbs.2016.02.005, PMID 27134024, retrieved 2024-01-04
^Crichton, Robert R. (2012-01-01), Crichton, Robert R. (ed.), "Chapter 10 - Magnesium–Phosphate Metabolism and Photoreceptors", Biological Inorganic Chemistry (Second ed.), Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 197–214, doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-53782-9.00010-3, ISBN 978-0-444-53782-9, retrieved 2024-01-04
^Mysliwa-Kurdziel, Beata; Solymosi, Katalin (2017). "Phycobilins and Phycobiliproteins Used in Food Industry and Medicine" (PDF). Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry. 17 (13): 1173–1193. doi:10.2174/1389557516666160912180155. PMID 27633748. S2CID 6563485.
Phycobilins (from Greek: φύκος (phykos) meaning "alga", and from Latin: bilis meaning "bile") are light-capturing bilins found in cyanobacteria and in...
to absorb light and acquire energy. Prochlorophyta lack red and blue phycobilin pigments and have stacked thylakoids, making them distinctly different...
thylakoid membranes are photosynthetic pigments, including chlorophyll a. Phycobilins are also common cyanobacterial pigments, usually organized into hemispherical...
chlorophylls a and c (often), and phycobilins, while those of green algae have chloroplasts with chlorophyll a and b without phycobilins. Land plants are pigmented...
and can be excreted. Bilirubin is structurally similar to the pigment phycobilin used by certain algae to capture light energy, and to the pigment phytochrome...
for the treatment of cancer Phycocyanobilin, a blue phycobilin Phycoerythrobilin, a red phycobilin This set index page lists chemical structure articles...
part covalently binding chromophores called phycobilins. In the phycoerythrin family, the most known phycobilins are: phycoerythrobilin, the typical phycoerythrin...
bilanes) include: Heme breakdown products (e.g., bilirubin, biliverdin) Phycobilins (found in cyanobacteria) Luciferins as found in dinoflagellates and euphausiid...
(Some cyanobacteria, the prochlorophytes, use chlorophyll b instead of phycobilin.) It is thought that the chloroplasts in plants and algae all evolved...
photosynthetic pigments, such as various forms of chlorophyll, carotenoids, phycobilins to convert the energy in sunlight to chemical energy. Unlike heterotrophic...
of the available chlorophyll "b", among other pigments. These include phycobilins, which are the red and blue pigments of red and blue algae, respectively...
cyanobacterium is dark blue green in colour, due to the presence of the phycobilin pigments phycocyanin and phycoerythrin. Individual filaments are blue...
rings have been joined together, the resulting structure is very like phycobilin, a compound used by algae and some bacteria to capture light for photosynthesis...
found in Cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae), and red algae. Phycobilin pigments have fluorescent properties that are used in immunoassay kits...
Phycocyanobilin is a blue phycobilin, i.e., a tetrapyrrole chromophore found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of red algae, glaucophytes, and some...
endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria that contain chlorophylls a and b and lack phycobilins. viscid Sticky; coated with a thick, syrupy secretion. vitta An oil tube...
Phycoerythrobilin is a red phycobilin, i.e. an open tetrapyrrole chromophore found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of red algae, glaucophytes...
a and sometimes chlorophyll d, as well as accessory pigments such as phycobilin pigments and xanthophylls. Depending on the relative proportions of these...
endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria that contain chlorophylls a and b and lack phycobilins. Corroborating this, a basal phagotroph archaeplastida group has been...
Examples for photosynthetic pigments are chlorophyll, carotenoids and phycobilins. These pigments enter a high-energy state upon absorbing a photon which...
purple. The purple color in the shaded colonies are mainly due to the phycobilin pigment of the algae, meaning the variation of exposure in light changes...
chlorophylls a,b,c and some others, e.g., xanthophylls, carotenoids, phycobilins are also embedded within the granum membrane. With exception of chlorophyll...
Micura is an Austrian chemist. He received his PhD working in the field of phycobilin pigments under the supervision of Karl Grubmayr in 1995. He was awarded...
Additional elements such as linker proteins, and enzymes involved in phycobilin synthesis and the phycobiliproteins are often encoded by genes in adjacent...
or Viridiplantae, that is united among other things by the absence of phycobilins, the presence of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, cellulose in the cell...
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