Phycobilins

Phycobilins are water-soluble pigments that can be found in the cytoplasm or the chloroplast stroma. They are only found in Cyanobacteria and Rhodophyta.

Phycobilins are not only beneficial to the organisms that employ them to absorb light energy; they are also important as research instruments. Phycocyanin and phycoerythrin both glow at a specific wavelength. When exposed to bright light, they absorb the energy and release it by releasing light with a very limited wavelength range. Because the light emitted by this fluorescence is so unique and consistent, phycobilins can be employed as chemical “tags.”

The colours are chemically linked to antibodies, which are subsequently placed in a cell solution. A machine can determine if the cells in the droplets have been “tagged” when the solution is sprayed in a stream of fine droplets past a lase. 

Synthesis of Phycobilins

The phycobilins are created through the reduction of biliverdin, which is produced during the production and breakdown of heme. This heme is a necessary step in the production of phycobilins.

Functions of Phycobilins

The fundamental function of phycobilins, like carotenoids, is to complement the light-capturing ability of Chl by absorbing energy where Chl is inefficient. Phycobilins absorb green to red wavelengths of light, whereas carotenoids absorb mostly in the blue-green area.

The process by which plants convert carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight into oxygen and energy in the form of sugar is known as photosynthesis. Autotrophic plants produce their own food through a process called photosynthesis. Sunlight, chlorophyll, CO₂, and water are four crucial components needed for this process. The two steps of photosynthesis are the Light Reaction and the Dark Reaction.

• Light reaction: The initial stage of photosynthesis is the light reaction, in which solar energy is transformed into chemical energy in the form of ATP and NADPH. Protein complexes and pigment molecules both contribute to the synthesis of NADPH and ATP.
• Dark reaction: The dark reaction is also known as the carbon-fixing process. It is a light-independent mechanism that produces sugar molecules from carbon dioxide and water molecules. The dark reaction takes place in the stroma of the chloroplast, where the products of the light reaction are used.