Simple Mechanisms for Broadspectrum Color Control in Aquatic Organisms

Roberts, Aaron P

Simple Mechanisms for Broadspectrum Color Control in Aquatic Organisms

2012

Roberts, Aaron P

Phenotypes of a freshwater zooplankton (Diaptomus) sampled from alpine and subalpine lakes exert control of color from red to blue. This broad-spectrum control is exerted over a single pigment material using two mechanisms; (1) esterification for fine control producing shades and (2) protein binding for broad-band control. Broad spectrum color change using control of a single pigment offers a fantastic opportunity to study photonic control in a simple but dynamic system. The goal of this project was to examine the mechanisms behind bathychromic color shift (red to blue) observed in freshwater alpine copepods. Specifically, we examined (1) environmental conditions which result in changes in pigmentation, (2) genes and proteins involved in red-blue color change, and (3) the role of pigment esters in color intensity. We sampled alpine lakes in the Rocky Mountains and determined that reproductive cycle is the biological driver for color change. We developed and adapted methods for pigment extraction and identification (LC-MS) in low mass tissue samples, fractionated more than a dozen ester compounds, and examined the distribution of pigment using microscopy and microRaman analysis. We have also isolated and manipulated blue carotenoprotein ex-vivo. Genomic and proteomic approaches were used to isolate proteins and mRNAs for sequencing.

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