Psychrophile C-phycocyanin.

C-Phycocyanin was purified from an alga isolated in the Antarctic in 1968 and grown since that time in our laboratory at 4 C. Certain of its spectroscopic and immunochemical properties were studied, along with detailed examinations of its chemical composition and quaternary structure. The hexamer-trimer equilibrium in the protein solution was studied as a function of pH, ionic strength, temperature, and susceptibility to certain small molecules. A major emphasis of the work was placed on a comparison of its protein-protein interactions with those of C-phycocyanins from both mesophilic and thermophilic algae.