Phycobiliproteins are complex proteins in cyanobacteria that absorb light energy. There are three kinds of phycobiliprotein molecules used to pass light to chlorophyll: phycoerythrin—responsible for capturing green light, phycocyanin—responsible for capturing orange-red light, and allophycocyanin—responsible for capturing red light.
Since light can only penetrate to certain depths in oceans (figure 1), phycobiliproteins capture the light available and pass it through various pathways of phycobiliproteins until the emitted light is red, which is absorbed by chlorophyll.
Explain the relationship between chlorophyll absorption and wavelength.
In addition to the pigments commonly associated with photosynthesis, a certain photosynthetic species contains two additional pigment types. Justify the claim that this species is better adapted to environmental changes than the cyanobacteria described above. Provide reasoning that explains this claim.
