bacteriochlorophyll

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A pigment in some bacteria that captures light for energy like plant chlorophyll

noun
/bækˌtɪəriəʊˈklɔːrəfɪl/

Specialized

: bacterioclorofila

Benno knew of John's pioneering work on the water-soluble bacteriochlorophyll protein complex and that John had crystallized the protein.

Examples

Without bacteriochlorophyll, photosynthetic bacteria would not be able to perform photosynthesis efficiently.
They also isolated the chlorosome baseplate protein that binds bacteriochlorophyll a.

Academic text (2018)
The study revealed that bacteriochlorophyll plays a crucial role in how photosynthetic bacteria convert light energy into chemical energy.
Researchers discovered that bacteriochlorophyll absorbs light in the infrared spectrum, which is different from chlorophyll in plants.

Surface Forms

bacteriochlorophyll singular

bacteriochlorophylls plural

Morphology

bacteriochlorophyll = chlorophyll (transparent) = bacterio + chlorophyll

Combining 'bacterio-' (bacterial) with 'chlorophyll' yields the pigment found in bacteria; the composition is straightforward for learners familiar with 'bacteria' or 'bacterial'.

Etymology

Bacteriochlorophyll comes from bacterio- meaning 'bacteria' and chlorophyll meaning 'green leaf'. So, bacteriochlorophyll is literally the 'green leaf' pigment of bacteria, which helps them catch light for energy like plant chlorophyll does.