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Phycobilins (from Greek language: φύκος (phykos) meaning "alga", and from Latin: bilis meaning "bile") are light-capturing bilins found in cyanobacteria and in the of red algae, and some (though not in green algae and ). Most of their molecules consist of a chromophore which makes them coloured. They are unique among the photosynthetic pigments in that they are bonded to certain water-soluble , known as . Phycobiliproteins then pass the light energy to for photosynthesis.
The phycobilins are especially efficient at absorbing red, orange, yellow, and green light, wavelengths that are not well absorbed by chlorophyll a. Organisms growing in shallow waters tend to contain phycobilins that can capture yellow/red light, while those at greater depth often contain more of the phycobilins that can capture green light, which is relatively more abundant there.
The phycobilins fluorescence at a particular wavelength, and are, therefore, often used in research as chemical tags, e.g., by binding phycobiliproteins to antibody in a technique known as immunofluorescence.
They can be found in different combinations attached to phycobiliproteins to confer specific spectroscopic properties.
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