Phycobiliprotein

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Any of a family of water-soluble pigment-bearing proteins found in algae and cyanobacteria that capture light energy for photosynthesis
2. A class of protein molecules containing bilin pigments, present in blue-green algae and red algae, that absorb light to drive photosynthesis
3. A light-gathering protein carrying a linear tetrapyrrole chromophore, found in cyanobacteria and certain algae, used in photosynthetic energy transfer

Etymology: Phycobiliproteins are pigment-protein complexes found in cyanobacteria and red algae, and the name is a compound built from three parts. The first, "phyco-", comes from Greek "phykos," meaning seaweed or alga, which is why the word points straight at the algae that carry these pigments. The middle element, "bili-", comes from Latin "bilis," bile, a reference to the bile-coloured pigments that the molecules contain. The final element, "protein," is the familiar term for the large biological molecules that the pigments are bound to. The pieces were joined in modern scientific usage, so the word is a technical coinage rather than an ancient one. Its meaning is literal: a protein carrying bile-like pigments, found in algae. Anyone encountering it can read the whole description from its parts.