New violet 3,3'-bipyridyl pigment purified from deep-sea microorganism Shewanella violacea DSS12.

We have purified a new violet pigment derived from Shewanella violacea DSS12 to determine its chemical structure. The pigment colored blue in tetrahydrofuran (THF) or chloroform and showed a broad absorption spectrum from 500 to 700 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis of single crystals showed that the chemical structure of this pigment was 5,5'-didodecylamino-4,4'-dihydroxy-3,3'-diazodiphenoquinone-(2,2'), containing the same chromophore as an indigoidine known as microbial blue pigment. The violet color of this pigment was due to hypsochromic shift (blue shift) caused by the side-by-side orientation of this pigment molecule, revealed by X-ray structural analyses of a single crystal.