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Abstract
Photonic structures in ordered, quasi-ordered or disordered forms have evolved across many different animal and plant systems. They can produce complex and often functional optical responses through coherent and incoherent scattering processes, often too, in combination with broadband or narrowband absorbing pigmentation. Interestingly, these systems appear highly tolerant of faults in their photonic structures, with imperfections in their structural order appearing not to impact, discernibly, the systems' optical signatures. The extent to which any such biological system deviates from presenting perfect structural order can dictate the optical properties of that system and, thereby, the optical properties that system delivers. However, the nature and extent of the optical costs and benefits of imperfect order in biological systems demands further elucidation. Here, we identify the extent to which biological photonic systems are tolerant of defects and imperfections. Certainly, it is clear that often significant inherent variations in the photonic structures of these systems, for instance a relatively broad distribution of lattice constants, can consistently produce what appear to be effective visual appearances and optical performances. In this article, we review previously investigated biological photonic systems that present ordered, quasi-ordered or disordered structures. We discuss the form and nature of the optical behaviour of these structures, focusing particularly on the associated optical costs and benefits surrounding the extent to which their structures deviate from what might be considered ideal systems. Then, through detailed analyses of some well-known 1D and 2D structurally coloured systems, we analyse one of the common manifestations of imperfect order, namely, the extent and nature of positional disorder in the systems' spatial distribution of layers and scattering centres. We use these findings to inform optical modelling that presents a quantitative and qualitative description of the optical costs and benefits of such positional disorder among ordered and quasi-ordered 1D and 2D photonic systems. As deviation from perfectly ordered structures invariably limits the performance of technology-oriented synthetic photonic processes, we suggest that the use of bio-inspired fault tolerance principles would add value to applied photonic technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien R Mouchet
- School of Physics, University of Exeter, Physics Building, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK. and Department of Physics, Namur Institute of Structured Matter (NISM), University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000 Namur, Belgium
| | - Stephen Luke
- School of Physics, University of Exeter, Physics Building, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK.
| | - Luke T McDonald
- School of Physics, University of Exeter, Physics Building, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK.
| | - Pete Vukusic
- School of Physics, University of Exeter, Physics Building, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK.
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2
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McDonald LT, Narayanan S, Sandy A, Saranathan V, McNamara ME. Brilliant angle-independent structural colours preserved in weevil scales from the Swiss Pleistocene. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200063. [PMID: 32289243 PMCID: PMC7211455 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Extant weevils exhibit a remarkable colour palette that ranges from muted monochromatic tones to rainbow-like iridescence, with the most vibrant colours produced by three-dimensional photonic nanostructures housed within cuticular scales. Although the optical properties of these nanostructures are well understood, their evolutionary history is not fully resolved, in part due to a poor knowledge of their fossil record. Here, we report three-dimensional photonic nanostructures preserved in brightly coloured scales of two weevils, belonging to the genus Phyllobius or Polydrusus, from the Pleistocene (16–10 ka) of Switzerland. The scales display vibrant blue, green and yellow hues that resemble those of extant Phyllobius/Polydrusus. Scanning electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering analyses reveal that the subfossil scales possess a single-diamond photonic crystal nanostructure. In extant Phyllobius/Polydrusus, the near-angle-independent blue and green hues function primarily in crypsis. The preservation of far-field, angle-independent structural colours in the Swiss subfossil weevils and their likely function in substrate matching confirm the importance of investigating fossil and subfossil photonic nanostructures to understand the evolutionary origins and diversification of colours and associated behaviours (e.g. crypsis) in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke T McDonald
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork T23 TK30, Ireland.,Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork T23 XE10, Ireland
| | - Suresh Narayanan
- Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
| | - Alec Sandy
- Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
| | - Vinodkumar Saranathan
- Division of Science, Yale-NUS College, 138609, Singapore.,Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore 117543, Singapore.,NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative (NUSNNI-NanoCore), National University of Singapore, 117581, Singapore.,Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore, 117377, Singapore
| | - Maria E McNamara
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork T23 TK30, Ireland.,Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork T23 XE10, Ireland
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3
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Zhang Q, Mey W, Ansorge J, Starkey TA, McDonald LT, McNamara ME, Jarzembowski EA, Wichard W, Kelly R, Ren X, Chen J, Zhang H, Wang B. Fossil scales illuminate the early evolution of lepidopterans and structural colors. Sci Adv 2018; 4:e1700988. [PMID: 29651455 PMCID: PMC5895446 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2017] [Accepted: 02/23/2018] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Lepidopteran scales exhibit remarkably complex ultrastructures, many of which produce structural colors that are the basis for diverse communication strategies. Little is known, however, about the early evolution of lepidopteran scales and their photonic structures. We report scale architectures from Jurassic Lepidoptera from the United Kingdom, Germany, Kazakhstan, and China and from Tarachoptera (a stem group of Amphiesmenoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. The Jurassic lepidopterans exhibit a type 1 bilayer scale vestiture: an upper layer of large fused cover scales and a lower layer of small fused ground scales. This scale arrangement, plus preserved herringbone ornamentation on the cover scale surface, is almost identical to those of some extant Micropterigidae. Critically, the fossil scale ultrastructures have periodicities measuring from 140 to 2000 nm and are therefore capable of scattering visible light, providing the earliest evidence of structural colors in the insect fossil record. Optical modeling confirms that diffraction-related scattering mechanisms dominate the photonic properties of the fossil cover scales, which would have displayed broadband metallic hues as in numerous extant Micropterigidae. The fossil tarachopteran scales exhibit a unique suite of characteristics, including small size, elongate-spatulate shape, ridged ornamentation, and irregular arrangement, providing novel insight into the early evolution of lepidopteran scales. Combined, our results provide the earliest evidence for structural coloration in fossil lepidopterans and support the hypothesis that fused wing scales and the type 1 bilayer covering are groundplan features of the group. Wing scales likely had deep origins in earlier amphiesmenopteran lineages before the appearance of the Lepidoptera.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingqing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
- University of Sciences and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Wolfram Mey
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute of Evolution and Biodiversity Research, Humboldt University, D-10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jörg Ansorge
- Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald, D-17487 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Timothy A. Starkey
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
| | - Luke T. McDonald
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, North Mall, Cork T23 TK30, Ireland
| | - Maria E. McNamara
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, North Mall, Cork T23 TK30, Ireland
| | - Edmund A. Jarzembowski
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Wilfried Wichard
- Institute of Biology and its Didactics, University of Cologne, D-50931 Cologne, Germany
| | - Richard Kelly
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
- Department of Natural Sciences, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK
| | - Xiaoyin Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Jun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi 276000, China
| | - Haichun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Bo Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
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Finlayson ED, McDonald LT, Vukusic P. Optically ambidextrous circularly polarized reflection from the chiral cuticle of the scarab beetle Chrysina resplendens. J R Soc Interface 2018; 14:rsif.2017.0129. [PMID: 28615493 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2017.0129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2017] [Accepted: 05/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of structural colour mechanisms in biological systems has given rise to many interesting optical effects in animals and plants. The instance of the scarab beetle Chrysina resplendens is particularly distinctive. Its exoskeleton has a bright, golden appearance and reflects both right-handed and left-handed circularly polarized light concurrently. The chiral nanostructure responsible for these properties is a helicoid, in which birefringent dielectric planes are assembled with an incremental rotation. This study correlates details of the beetle's circularly polarized reflectance spectra directly with physical aspects of its structural morphology. Electron micrography is used to identify and measure the physical dimensions of the key constituent components. These include a chiral multilayer configuration comprising two chirped, left-handed helicoids that are separated by a birefringent retarder. A scattering matrix technique is used to simulate the system's optical behaviour in which the roles of each component of the morphological substructure are elucidated by calculation of the fields throughout its depth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewan D Finlayson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
| | - Luke T McDonald
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
| | - Pete Vukusic
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
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McDonald LT, Finlayson ED, Wilts BD, Vukusic P. Circularly polarized reflection from the scarab beetle Chalcothea smaragdina: light scattering by a dual photonic structure. Interface Focus 2017. [PMID: 28630672 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2016.0129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Helicoidal architectures comprising various polysaccharides, such as chitin and cellulose, have been reported in biological systems. In some cases, these architectures exhibit stunning optical properties analogous to ordered cholesteric liquid crystal phases. In this work, we characterize the circularly polarized reflectance and optical scattering from the cuticle of the beetle Chalcothea smaragdina (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) using optical experiments, simulations and structural analysis. The selective reflection of left-handed circularly polarized light is attributed to a Bouligand-type helicoidal morphology within the beetle's exocuticle. Using electron microscopy to inform electromagnetic simulations of this anisotropic stratified medium, the inextricable connection between the colour appearance of C. smaragdina and the periodicity of its helicoidal rotation is shown. A close agreement between the model and the measured reflectance spectra is obtained. In addition, the elytral surface of C. smaragdina possesses a blazed diffraction grating-like surface structure, which affects the diffuse appearance of the beetle's reflected colour, and therefore potentially enhances crypsis among the dense foliage of its rainforest habitat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke T McDonald
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK.,School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, North Mall Campus, Cork, Republic of Ireland
| | - Ewan D Finlayson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
| | - Bodo D Wilts
- Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Chemin des Verdiers 4, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Pete Vukusic
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
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Abstract
Adipocytes, apart from their critical role as the energy storage depots, contribute to the composition of the tumor microenvironment. Our previous studies based on a single hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation model, have revealed a novel source of adipocytes from HSCs via monocyte/macrophage progenitors. Herein, we extend these studies to examine the role of HSC-derived adipocytes (HSC-Ad) in tumor progression. When cultured under adipogenic conditions, bone marrow-derived monocytic progenitors differentiated into adipocytes that accumulated oil droplets containing triglyceride. The adipokine array and ELISAs confirmed secretion of multiple adipokines by HSC-Ad. These adipocytes underwent further development in vivo when injected subcutaneously into C57Bl/6 mice. When co-injected with melanoma B16F1 cells or breast cancer E0771 cells into syngeneic C57Bl/6 mice, HSC-Ad not only accelerated both melanoma and breast tumor growth, but also enhanced vascularization in both tumors. Conditioned media from HSC-Ad supported B16F1 and E0771 cell proliferation and enhanced cell migration in vitro. Among the HSC-Ad secreted adipokines, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) played an important role in E0771 cell proliferation. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was indispensable for B16F1 cell migration, whereas HGF and platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) collectively contributed to E0771 cell migration. Expression levels of receptors for IGF-1, HGF, and PDGF-BB correlated with their differential roles in B16F1 and E0771 cell proliferation and migration. Our data suggest that HSC-Ad differentially regulate tumor behavior through distinct mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Xiong
- Research Services, Ralph H Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.,The Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - D L Russell
- Research Services, Ralph H Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - L T McDonald
- Research Services, Ralph H Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - L A Cowart
- Research Services, Ralph H Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - A C LaRue
- Research Services, Ralph H Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.,The Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
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