title: Novel Role for Phycoerythrin in a Marine Cyanobacterium, Synechococcus Strain DC2.
abstract: Cyanobacterial picoplankton contribute substantially to oceanic primary productivity. The colored protein phycoerythrin is the major component of their light-harvesting apparatus. It was found that in Synechococcus strain DC2 a variable proportion of the light energy absorbed by phycoerythrin is lost as autofluorescence and therefore is not passed to a photoreaction center. Phycoerythrin may serve two functionally distinct roles in this organism: as a nitrogen reserve and as a collector of quanta for photosynthesis.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wyman
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Gregory
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Carr