Detection of the photochemical intermediate processes in phycobiliproteins

The delayed luminescence was applied to detect the intermediate processes of the excitedstate decay in the selectively excited phycobiliproteins. Phosphorescence spectra of the five types of phycobiliproteins, R-PE, CPC, APC, R-PC, PEC were reported in this article. The five phycobiliproteins showed different phosphorescence yields, the sequence of which was the same as that of the singlet oxygen yields. Based on the observation, it can be concluded that each of the chromophores possesses a characteristic phosphorescence emission. The delayed luminescence spectra of APC at different aggregation states (trimer, monomer and denatured APC) are researched. The lower aggregation APC showed less phosphorescence because of relative loose structures and less interaction with the surrounding proteins, while the denatured APC showed delayed fluorescence instead of phosphorescence because of triplet-triplet annihilation.