Color Richness in Cephalopod Chromatophores Originating from High Refractive Index Biomolecules

Cephalopods are arguably one of the most photonically sophisticated marine animals, as they can rapidly adapt their dermal color and texture to their surroundings using both structural and pigmentary coloration. Their chromatophore organs facilitate this process, but the molecular mechanism potentia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of physical chemistry letters 2017-01, Vol.8 (1), p.313-317
Main Authors: Dinneen, Sean R, Osgood, Richard M, Greenslade, Margaret E, Deravi, Leila F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Cephalopoda - chemistry
Chromatophores - metabolism
Color
Color Perception
Light
Oxazines - chemistry
Refractometry
Scattering, Radiation
Skin Pigmentation
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Summary:Cephalopods are arguably one of the most photonically sophisticated marine animals, as they can rapidly adapt their dermal color and texture to their surroundings using both structural and pigmentary coloration. Their chromatophore organs facilitate this process, but the molecular mechanism potentiating color change is not well understood. We hypothesize that the pigments, which are localized within nanostructured granules in the chromatophore, enhance the scattering of light within the dermal tissue. To test this, we extracted the phenoxazone-based pigments from the chromatophore and extrapolated their complex refractive index (RI) from experimentally determined real and approximated imaginary portions of the RI. Mie theory was used to calculate the absorbance and scattering cross sections (cm2/particle) across a broad diameter range at λ = 589 nm. We observed that the pigments were more likely to scatter attenuated light than absorb it and that these characteristics may contribute to the color richness of cephalopods.
ISSN:1948-7185
1948-7185
DOI:10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b02398