Allophycocyanin (from Greek: ἄλλος (allos) meaning "other", φύκος (phykos) meaning “alga”, and κυανός (kyanos) meaning "blue") is a protein from the light-harvesting phycobiliprotein family, along with phycocyanin, phycoerythrin and phycoerythrocyanin. It is an accessory pigment to chlorophyll. All phycobiliproteins are water soluble and therefore cannot exist within the membrane like carotenoids, but aggregate forming clusters that adhere to the membrane called phycobilisomes. Allophycocyanin absorbs and emits red light (650 & 660 nm max, respectively), and is readily found in Cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae), and red algae. Phycobilin pigments have fluorescent properties that are used in immunoassay kits. In flow cytometry, it is often abbreviated APC.
Two of the very few companies producing Allophycocyanin proteins are Hash Biotech Labs[1], in Northern India and Oxford AlgaeTech, in the United Kingdom[2]. The protein is still very expensive to produce and as such, suppliers are limited.
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