Extraction of Phycobiliproteins from Cyanobacteria and Red Algae

The phycobiliproteins are intensely fluorescent proteins from cyanobacteria and red algae. Because of their optical properties, they are ideal for use as fluorescent labels in medical diagnostics and immunological assays. In this work, 18 species of algae are tested for the presence of phycobiliproteins in order to find the culture that would produce the most of the certain pigment. C-phycocyanin and allophycocyanin are extracted from cyanobacteria. R-phycocyanin, B-phycoerythrin, and b-phycoerythrin are extracted from red algae. High purity of pigments is obtained. It is shown that from tested algae, GS023 would be the most productive for obtaining C-phycocyanin and GS028 would be the most productive for obtaining B-phycoerythrin.