phycobilin
English
Etymology
From international scientific vocabulary, reflecting New Latin roots/stems referring to plants and bile; surface analysis, phyco- + bilin = phyco- + bili- + -in, although according to American Heritage Dictionary, bilin was back-formed from phycobilin (as opposed to phycobilin being derived from bilin as surface analysis suggests).
Noun
phycobilin (plural phycobilins)
- (biochemistry) Any of a group of bilins (pigments derived from porphyrins) found in some photosynthetic algae; they are open-chain tetrapyrroles related to mammalian bile pigments.
Hypernyms
- bilane
- bilin
Coordinate terms
- bile pigment
- bilichrome
Translations
highly coloured pigment found in photosynthetic algae
|