Photoreversible pigment: occurrence in a blue-green alga.

A new photoreversible pigment has been isolated from the blue-green alga Tolypothrix tenuis. This pigment bears certain resemblances to phytochrome, except that absorption maxima for the two forms are in the green and red portions of the spectrum instead of the red and far-red. The pigment may control diverse differentiative processes in blue-green algae.