Extraction, identification, and quantitation of phycobiliprotein pigments from phototrophic plankton

Abstract

The water‐soluble phycobiliprotein (phb) pigments are confined to two important taxa of photosynthetic microorganisms (Cyanobacteria, Cryptophyta). Detection and quantitation of these pigments in a manner analogous to that of chlorophyll can provide more information about the composition of the plankton population than chlorophyll analysis alone. A technique is described for the extraction, identification, and quantitation of phycoerythrins and phycocyanins from cultures and seawater samples. A means of distinguishing the predominant phb‐containing component of a sample is suggested. Analysis of estuarine samples indicates an average phycocyanin content of 0.043 µ g·liter ‒1 from cyanobacteria and a phycoerythrin average of 0.005 µ g·liter ’ from cryptophytes.