Natural occurrence of phycoerythrocyanin-like pigment in cyanobacterial blooming samples dominated by Microcystis in Lake Kasumigaura

We describe the occurrence of phycocyanin and phycoerythrocyanin-likepigment in natural Microcystis colonies collected in Lake Kasumigaura.For differentiating pigments, the combination of simultaneousdetermination of molecular weights of and ß and subunitsby electrospray ionization mass spectrometry with HPLC separationand fluorescence measurements was used. It was suggested thatthe natural Microcystis colonies may contain the phycoerythrocyanin-likepigment, judged from the excitation and emission spectra. Measuredpigments consisted of different molecular weights of and ßsubunits, but the molecular weights of and ß subunitsin both phycocyanin and phycoerythrocyanin-like pigments werenot always identical.