PHYCOERYTHROCYANINS FROM Westiellopsis prolifica AND Nostoc rivulare: CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PHYCOVIOLOBILIN CHROMOPHORE IN BOTH STATES

Phycoerythrocyanin or fractions enriched in it have been isolated from the filamentous cyanobacteria, Westiellopsis prolifica ARM 365 and Nostoc rivulare ARM 212. Both show the photoreversible photochromism (difference maxima at 503 and 570 nm) characteristic of this pigment, which is related to the phycoviolobilin chromophore on the α-subunit. Native phycoerythrocyanin and its β-subunit show little if any reversible photochemistry in the 600–620 nm region, where the phycocyanobilin chromophores absorb maximally. Instead the phycocyanobilin chromophores are bleached irreversibly. At the same time, the data show that reversible photochemistry is a useful analytical tool to detect phycoerythrocyanin in cyanobacterial extracts. Fluorescence measurements indicate that: (i) the 510 nm absorbing isomer of the violobilin chromophore has only little fluorescence; and (ii) the energy transfer from the violobilin chromophores to the cyanin chromophores is efficient only in the 570 nm form

FLUORESCENCE AND CIRCULAR DICHROISM STUDIES ON THE PHYCOERYTHROCYANINS FROM THE CYANOBACTERIUM

Two phycoerythrocyanin (PEC) fractions have been obtained from the phycobilisomes of the cyanobac-terium Westiellopsis prolifica ARM 365. They have been characterized by absorption, fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy. One of them is spectroscopically similar to a PEC trimer known from other organisms. Whereas efficient energy transfer from its violin (α-84) to the cyanin (β-84, 155) chromophores is efficient in the trimer (αβ it is impeded after dissociation to the monomer (α,β). A second fraction of PEC which we earlier termed PEC(X) (Maruthi Sai et al., Photochem. Photobiol. 55,119–124, 1992), exhibited the spectral properties similar to that of the α-subunit of PEC from Mastigocladus laminosus. With this highly photoactive fraction, the circular dichroism spectra of the violobilin chromophore in both photoreversible states were obtained

Level II/III evaluation of the Department of Social Services Family Independence (FI) Casemanagement Training Program

This paper explains the Family Independence Casemanagement Training Program within the Department of Social Services

The Moral Call to Learn: A Qualitative Investigation of Encounters with Unfamiliarity in Everyday Life

This qualitative study explored the moral aspects of learners’ “encounters with unfamiliarity” in their everyday experiences. The encounter with unfamiliarity, as a basic phenomenon within the conceptual framework of embodied familiarization, was investigated using a multiple case study approach (Stake, 2006). Findings from this study are presented first as brief case narratives and second as themes based on a cross-case analysis. Themes of the study point to the nature and significance of the encounter as a part of learning, often as an invitation with a kind of moral significance that called participants to learn, or not learn, in particular ways. Moreover, much of the learning described in participants’ accounts was itself a kind of moral action, enacted in response to the significance of the moral call to learn initiated by the encounter

A Comparison of Phycocyanins from Three Different Species of Cyanobacteria Employing Resonance-Enhanced Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy

Resonance-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectra are recorded for monomers and trimers of phycocyanin from three different cyanobacteria: Westiellopsis prolifica, Mastigocladus laminosus and Spirulina platensis. It is shown that upon aggregation from monomer to trimer the electronic structures of both the α84 and β84 chromophores are changed. The spectra of the trimers originating from S. platensis and M. laminosus are very similar to each other, but distinctly different from the spectrum of W. prolifica