Brightness of yellow fluorescent protein from coral (zFP538) depends on aggregation.

The yellow fluorescent protein from coral (zFP538) forms aggregates in water solutions. According to dynamic light scattering and gel filtration data, the aggregation number is approximately 1000-10000 at pH 8-9 and protein concentration 1 mg/mL. Gel filtration demonstrated that dissociation of the aggregates takes place upon dilution, and the molecular weight of the aggregates decreases with pH.