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light-harvesting, PBPs are found to involve in several life sustaining phenomena including photoprotection in cyanobacteria. The unique spectral features (like strong absorbance and fluorescence), proteineous nature and, some imperative properties like hepato-protective, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and anti-aging activity of PBPs enable their use in food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. PBPs have been also noted to show beneficial effect in therapeutics of some disease like Alzheimer and cancer. Such large range of applications increases the demand of PBPs in commodity market. Therefore, the large-scale and coast effective production of PBPs is the real need of time. To fulfil this need, many researchers have been working to find the potential producer of PBPs for the production and purification of PBPs. Results of these efforts have caused the inventions of some novel techniques like mixotrophic and heterotrophic strategies for production and aqueous two phase separation for purification purpose. Overall, the present review summarises the recent findings and identifies gaps in the field of production, purification and applications of this biological and economically important proteins. Core tip: The present review compiles the overall research that has been done so far in the field of produ ction, purification and application of phycobiliptoteins (PBPs). The comparative accounts for different methods for PBPs production, purification have been discussed. The potential applications of PBPs in various industries including food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical have been debated rationally. Remaining questions and rese arch gaps in respected field have been highlighted as conclusion. Recent advances in production, purification and applications of phycobiliproteins AbstractAn obligatory sunlight requirement for photosynthesis has exposed cyanobacteria to different quantity and quality of light. Cyanobacteria can exhibit efficient photosynthesis over broad region (450 to 650 nm) of solar spectrum with the help of brilliantly coloured pigment proteins called phycobiliproteins (PBPs). Besides REVIEW 100February 26, 2016|Volume 7|Issue 1|

Cyanobacteria are the most promising group of photosynthetic microorganisms capable of producing an array of natural products of industrial importance. Scytonemin is a small hydrophobic alkaloid pigment molecules present in the extracellular sheath of several cyanobacteria as a protective mechanism against short wavelength solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It has great efficacy to minimize the production of reactive oxygen species and formation of DNA lesions. The biosynthesis of scytonemin is regulated by different physico-chemical stressors. Scytonemin display multiple roles, functioning as a potent UV sunscreen and antioxidant molecules, and can be exploited in cosmetic and other industries for the development of new cosmeceuticals. Herein, we review the occurrence, biosynthesis, and potential application of scytonemin in photoprotection, pharmaceuticals, and biomedical research.

In the present study, we tested the antioxidant activity of phycoerythrin (PE, an oligomeric light harvesting protein isolated from Lyngbya sp. A09DM) to curtail aging effects in Caenorhabditis elegans. Purified PE (100 μg/ml) dietary supplement was given to C. elegans and investigated for its anti-aging potential. PE treatment improved the mean life span of wild type (N2)-animals from 15±0.1 to 19.9±0.3 days. PE treatment also moderated the decline in aging-associated physiological functions like pharyngeal pumping and locomotion with increasing age of N2 worms. Moreover, PE treatment also enhanced the stress tolerance in 5-day-aged adults with increase in mean survival rate from 22.2±2.5 to 41.6±2.5 % under thermo stress and from 30.1±3.2 to 63.1±6.4 % under oxidative (hydrogen peroxide)-stress. PE treatment was also noted to moderate the heat-induced expression of human amyloid-beta(Aβ 1-42 ) peptide and associated paralysis in the muscle tissues of transgenic C. elegans CL4176 (Alzheimer's disease model). Effectiveness of PE in expanding the life span of mutant C. elegans, knockout for some up (daf-2 and age-1)-and down (daf-16)-stream regulators of insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS), shows the independency of PE effect from DAF-2-AGE-1-DAF-16 signaling pathway. Moreover, the inability of PE in expanding the life span of hsf-1 knockout C. elegans(sy441) suggests the dependency of PE effect on heat shock transcription factor (HSF-1) controlling AGE (2014) stress-induced gene expression. In conclusion, our results demonstrated a novel anti-aging activity of PE which conferred increased resistance to cellular stress resulting in improved life span and health span of C. elegans.

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