PERISCOPE – Color change with peridinin carbon excision chemistry.

Color in nature are a result of the interplay of light reflection and absorption, and at a molecular scale the absorption characteristics are dictated by coupled properties: the number and configuration of conjugated double bonds. In-chain carbon excision chemistry uncouples these two properties providing an undescribed molecular process for changing the colorimetric properties of natural pigments. 

In PERISCOPE, the goal is to identify and characterize molecular machinery that can support conjunct C-C cleavage and C-C bond formation for in-chain carbon excision. Such a process has only been associated with formation of the pigment peridinin, and understanding the enzymatic system would constitute a novel platform for in-chain carbon excision chemistry.