Phycobiliproteins

Phycobiliproteins are water-soluble fluorescent proteins derived from cyanobacteria and Eukaryotic algae. In these organisms they are used as accessory or antenna pigments for photosynthetic light collection. They absorb energy in portions of the visible spectrum that are poorly utilized by chlorophyll and through fluorescence energy transfer, convey the energy to chlorophyll at the photosynthetic reaction centre. Phycobiliproteins are easily conjugated to streptavidin and antibodies using traditional methods. Browse our Product Catalogue to find a wide selection of Phycobiliproteins and Phycobiliprotein conjugates.

ProZyme manufacturers the algae by fermentation in two locations in California. In this way cells can be harvested and Phycobiliproteins purified before any deterioration of the molecule occurs. They are very pure. By always harvesting the cells at the same time, the cells are remarkably consistent lot to lot; hence the Phycobiliproteins are remarkably consistent lot to lot.

Phycobiliproteins are classified according to their colour into two large groups, the phycoerythrins (red) and the phycocyanins (blue). The phycoerythrins, namely R-Phycoerythrin (R-PE), has found widespread use in flow cytometry where it can be excited with a 480nm laser and emits fluorescence at 575nm. The phycocyanins, namely Allophycocyanin (APC, XL-APC, XL-665) has found applications in the FRET and TR-FRET technologies as the acceptor from Europium cryptates and chelates.

PhycoPro™ products
We manufacture the highest purity RPE (R-Phycoerythrin), PerCP (Peridinin chlorophyll protein complex) and APC (Allophycocyanin). The APC is available as the natural form or cross linked. In addition we can supply the more esoteric Phycobiliproteins such as C-Phycocyanin, B-Phycoerythrin and Y-Phycoerythrin to order.

PhycoLink™ products
We supply the above PhycoPro products preactivated with SMCC, as conjugation kits for research and as conjugates linked to biotin, anti FLAG, anti-galactosidase, anti human IgG, anti Mouse IgG, anti Rabbit-IgG, anti Rat IgG, anti GST fusion protein, anti MBP, anti phosphoserine, anti phosphotyrosine, anti phosphothreonine, Protein A, Protein G, wheat germ agglutinin and especially Streptavidin.

We have a range of natural Streptavidin-Phycoerythrin conjugates for diagnostic and Luminex type assays and a similar range of conjugates using recombinant Streptavidin for research applications. We recommend you optimize your assay by evaluating all the conjugates in our natural or recombinant sampler kits.
ProZyme can perform custom conjugations to your antibody or protein.