Why Phycoerythrin Is Important to Red Algae?

Phycoerythrin absorbs and harvests energy from blue light and reflects red, which gives algae that possess it an advantage in living in deeper water. Of course, red algae also have chlorophyll like other photosynthetic organisms, and not all red algae look red.

What is the function of phycoerythrin?

Phycoerythrin is an accessory pigment to the main chlorophyll pigments responsible for photosynthesis. The light energy is captured by phycoerythrin and is then passed on to the reaction centre chlorophyll pair, most of the time via the phycobiliproteins phycocyanin and allophycocyanin.

What is the economic importance of phycoerythrin?

R-Phycoerythrin (R-PE) is a protein acting as a photosynthetic accessory pigment in red algae (Rodophyta). This protein has gained importance in many biotechnological applications in food science, immunodiagnostic, therapy, cosmetics, protein and cell labeling, and analytical processes.