scholarly journals Dark regeneration of rhodopsin in crayfish photoreceptors.

1984 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
T W Cronin ◽  
T H Goldsmith

The eyes of crayfish were exposed to lights of known spectral composition, and the course of regeneration was followed in the dark by measuring the content of rhodopsin and metarhodopsin in single rhabdoms isolated at various times after the adaptation, using an assay that is based on the fluorescence of metarhodopsin. Complete recovery requires several days in the dark after intense adaptation to orange light, but requires less than 2 d after blue light exposure. Following an orange light exposure with blue produces recovery kinetics characteristic of the blue light exposure alone. This quickening of recovery occurs whether the receptors are exposed to blue light either immediately or many hours after the original exposure to orange. Conversely, following blue light adaptation with orange leads to slow recovery, which is characteristic of orange alone. Recovery from long-wavelength adaptation is slower principally because many rhabdoms seem to delay the onset of regeneration. We suggest that the regeneration system is itself photosensitive, and after orange light adaptation the supply of active chromophore (presumably 11-cis retinal) limits the rate of recovery. Once started, recovery proceeds slowly and continuously, and the total pigment concentration (rhodopsin plus metarhodopsin) in the rhabdomeric membrane remains approximately constant. Within hours after intense adapting exposures, the rhabdoms become altered in appearance, the surfaces become coated with accessory pigment, and the bands of microvilli are less distinct. These changes persist until recovery of rhodopsin proceeds, which suggests that visual pigment regeneration results from addition of newly synthesized rhodopsin associated with membrane turn-over.

2021 ◽  
pp. 30-33
Author(s):  
David Jaynes ◽  
Paul Switzer

The purpose of this article is to provide background information and the current understanding of a less familiar cause of female breast cancer; exposure to ultraviolet light at night. Breast cancer is a common disease that causes significant morbidity and mortality in women. There are several risk factors for breast cancer, most of which are genetic and environmental in nature. An often-overlooked risk factor is exposure to blue light during night shift work, which decreases melatonin production. One of the many cancer-preventing properties of melatonin is to limit estrogen production. Increased lifetime exposure to estrogen is a well-known cause of breast cancer. Awareness of nighttime blue light exposure as a breast cancer risk factor by women doing night shift work and those exposed to nighttime light via smartphones and laptops, is essential information to know so that protective measures can be taken.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masao Ishizawa ◽  
Takuya Uchiumi ◽  
Miki Takahata ◽  
Michiyasu Yamaki ◽  
Toshiaki Sato

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1211
Author(s):  
Barbara Frąszczak ◽  
Monika Kula-Maximenko

The spectrum of light significantly influences the growth of plants cultivated in closed systems. Five lettuce cultivars with different leaf colours were grown under white light (W, 170 μmol m−2 s−1) and under white light with the addition of red (W + R) or blue light (W + B) (230 μmol m−2 s−1). The plants were grown until they reached the seedling phase (30 days). Each cultivar reacted differently to the light spectrum applied. The red-leaved cultivar exhibited the strongest plasticity in response to the spectrum. The blue light stimulated the growth of the leaf surface in all the plants. The red light negatively influenced the length of leaves in the cultivars, but it positively affected their number in red and dark-green lettuce. It also increased the relative chlorophyll content and fresh weight gain in the cultivars containing anthocyanins. When the cultivars were grown under white light, they had longer leaves and higher value of the leaf shape index. The light-green cultivars had a greater fresh weight. Both the addition of blue and red light significantly increased the relative chlorophyll content in the dark-green cultivar. The spectrum enhanced with blue light had positive influence on most of the parameters under analysis in butter lettuce cultivars. These cultivars were also characterised by the highest absorbance of blue light.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 1613-1618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Hou ◽  
Aigen Fu ◽  
Veder J. Garcia ◽  
Bob B. Buchanan ◽  
Sheng Luan

In earlier studies we have identified FKBP20-2 and CYP38 as soluble proteins of the chloroplast thylakoid lumen that are required for the formation of photosystem II supercomplexes (PSII SCs). Subsequent work has identified another potential candidate functional in SC formation (PSB27). We have followed up on this possibility and isolated mutants defective in the PSB27 gene. In addition to lack of PSII SCs, mutant plants were severely stunted when cultivated with light of variable intensity. The stunted growth was associated with lower PSII efficiency and defective starch accumulation. In response to high light exposure, the mutant plants also displayed enhanced ROS production, leading to decreased biosynthesis of anthocyanin. Unexpectedly, we detected a second defect in the mutant, namely in CP26, an antenna protein known to be required for the formation of PSII SCs that has been linked to state transitions. Lack of PSII SCs was found to be independent of PSB27, but was due to a mutation in the previously described cp26 gene that we found had no effect on light adaptation. The present results suggest that PSII SCs, despite being required for state transitions, are not associated with acclimation to changing light intensity. Our results are consistent with the conclusion that PSB27 plays an essential role in enabling plants to adapt to fluctuating light intensity through a mechanism distinct from photosystem II supercomplexes and state transitions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-134
Author(s):  
Michael R. Kozlowski

Background: There is growing concern that the increased use of personal digital devices, which emit a high proportion of their light in the blue wavelengths, may have harmful effects on the retina. Extensive historical as well as current research demonstrates that exposure to high energy visible light (blue light) can damage the retina under certain circumstances. There are, however, no studies that directly address whether blue light at the intensities emitted by digital devices can potentially cause such harm. The present review aimed to examine whether blue light exposure from computers, tablets, and cell phones can, when used habitually over a prolonged period of time, be harmful to the retinal. Methods: A search of the literature on blue light-induced retinal damage was performed using a number of scientific search engines, including BioOne Complete™, Google Scholar™, Paperity™, PubMed™, and ScienceOpen™. Studies most significant for addressing the question of possible harmful effects of blue light emitted by personal digital devices were selected from this search and reviewed. Results: The data from the selected studies were summarized and their limitations in addressing the question of whether the blue light from personal digital devices is capable of producing retinal damage were addressed. Based on these limitations, a practical experimental protocol for collecting the additional data needed was proposed. Data from pilot experiments are presented that indicate the practicality of this approach. Conclusions: The currently available data on the effects of blue light on the retina are not sufficient to refute the hypothesis that the use of personal digital devices could, over a lifetime, produce retinal damage. Additional studies, such as those proposed in this article, are needed to resolve this issue.


2021 ◽  
Vol 02 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Farhana Fadzil ◽  
◽  
Siti Amira Othman ◽  

Qai’lullah or napping is a phenomenon that is widely practiced in the world. Islam advocates mid-day napping as it is primarily practiced by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Scientists and scholars also acknowledge the benefits beyond this practice after various research and studies done. Hence, this article emphasizes topic of sleep in Islamic insight, their stages of sleeps according to Quran and the practiced of Qai’lullah or mid-day napping. The high-energy blue light exposure from the natural source, Sun and also digital screens reported reduce visual contrast and affect the sharpness and clarity by creating glares lead to mental and physical fatigue. Thus, a short nap in the mid-afternoon helps to boost memory, lift our mood, and improve job performance. The effect associated with qai’lullah are also being reviewed including improved the neurocognitive performance, alertness, recover the loss night sleep and enhanced the quality and increased memory consolidation in people.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatyana Perlova ◽  
Martin Gruebele ◽  
Yann R. Chemla

AbstractBlue light has been shown to elicit a tumbling response inE. coli, a non-phototrophic bacterium. The exact mechanism of this phototactic response is still unknown, and its biological significance remains unclear. Here, we quantify phototaxis inE. coliby analyzing single-cell trajectories in populations of free-swimming bacteria before and after light exposure. Bacterial strains expressing only one type of chemoreceptor reveal that all fiveE. colireceptors - Aer, Tar, Tsr, Tap and Trg - are capable of mediating a response to light. In particular, light exposure elicits a running response in Tap-only strain, the opposite of the tumbling response observed for all other strains. Light therefore emerges as a universal stimulus for allE. colichemoreceptors. We also show that blue light exposure causes a reversible decrease in swimming velocity, a proxy for proton motive force. We hypothesize that rather than sensing light directly, chemoreceptors sense light-induced perturbations in proton motive force.ImportanceOur findings provide new insights on the mechanism ofE. coliphototaxis, showing that all five chemoreceptor types respond to light and that their interactions play an important role in cell behavior. Our results also open up new avenues for examining and manipulatingE. colitaxis. Since light is a universal stimulus, it may provide a way to quantify interactions between different types of receptors. Since light is easier to control spatially and temporally than chemicals, it may be used to study swimming behavior in complex environments. Since phototaxis can cause migration ofE. colibacteria in light gradients, light may be used to control bacterial density for studying density-dependent processes in bacteria.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenqian Kang ◽  
Yuqi Zhang ◽  
Ruifeng Cheng ◽  
Elias Kaiser ◽  
Qichang Yang ◽  
...  

Raising young plants is important for modern greenhouse production. Upon transfer from the raising to the production environment, young plants should maximize light use efficiency while minimizing deleterious effects associated with exposure to high light (HL) intensity. The light spectrum may be used to establish desired traits, but how plants acclimated to a given spectrum respond to HL intensity exposure is less well explored. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) seedlings were grown in a greenhouse in low-intensity sunlight (control; ∼2.7 mol photons m–2 day–1) and were treated with white, red, blue, or green supplemental light (4.3 mol photons m–2 day–1) for 10 days. Photosynthetic capacity was highest in leaves treated with blue light, followed by white, red, and green, and was positively correlated with leaf thickness, nitrogen, and chlorophyll concentration. Acclimation to different spectra did not affect the rate of photosynthetic induction, but leaves grown under blue light showed faster induction and relaxation of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) under alternating HL and LL intensity. Blue-light-acclimated leaves showed reduced photoinhibition after HL intensity exposure, as indicated by a high maximum quantum yield of photosystem II photochemistry (Fv/Fm). Although plants grown under different supplemental light spectra for 10 days had similar shoot biomass, blue-light-grown plants (B-grown plants) showed a more compact morphology with smaller leaf areas and shorter stems. However, after subsequent, week-long exposure to full sunlight (10.7 mol photons m–2 day–1), B-grown plants showed similar leaf area and 15% higher shoot biomass, compared to plants that had been acclimated to other spectra. The faster growth rate in blue-light-acclimated plants compared to other plants was mainly due to a higher photosynthetic capacity and highly regulated NPQ performance under intermittent high solar light. Acclimation to blue supplemental light can improve light use efficiency and diminish photoinhibition under high solar light exposure, which can benefit plant growth.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yamin Wang ◽  
Min Zhang ◽  
Ying Sun ◽  
Xiaohui Wang ◽  
Zhaowei Song ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Cataracts have been verified to be associated with a number of risk factors. The sun and artificial light sources, including light-emitting diode (LED) and fluorescent light tubes, are the primary sources of short-wavelength blue light. With the increasing popularity of blue-rich LED-backlit display devices, our eyes are now exposed to more short-wavelength blue light than they were in the past. The goal of this study was to evaluate the role of short-wavelength blue light in the formation of cataract. Additionally, the pathogenesis of cataracts after short-wavelength light exposure was investigated.Methods SD rats were randomly divided into 2 main groups: a control group (10 rats each for the 4-, 8-, and 12-week groups) and an experimental group (10 rats each for the 4-, 8-, and 12-week groups). The rats in the experimental group were exposed to a short-wavelength blue LED lamp for 12 hours per day. After exposure to the blue LED lamp, the rats were maintained in total darkness for 12 hours, after which a 12-hour light/dark cycle was resumed. The intensity of the lamp was 3000 lux. At the end of the short-wavelength blue LED lamp exposure (for 4, 8, and 12 weeks), the expression levels of caspase-1, caspase-11 and gasdermin D (GSDMD) in rat epithelium cells (LECs) were examined in rat epithelial cells (LECs) using qRT-PCR and Western blotting analyses. Results After 6 weeks, cataracts had developed in the experimental rats (4/20 eyes). The clarity of the lens then gradually worsened with the duration of exposure. Twelve weeks later, all of the rat eyes had developed cataracts. Then the expression levels of caspase-1, caspase-11 and GSDMD at 4, 8, and 12 weeks were significantly higher in samples from rats exposed to a short-wavelength blue LED lamp than samples from control rat (p˂0.05). Conclusion The data indicate that pyroptosis play a key role of in cataracts induced by short-wavelength blue light exposure, highlighting caspase-1, caspase-11 and GSDMD as possible therapeutic targets for cataract treatment. This study might provide new insight into the novel pathogenesis of cataracts.


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