Matz Mikhail V, Marshall N Justin, Vorobyev Misha
Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Photochem Photobiol. 2006 Mar-Apr;82(2):345-50. doi: 10.1562/2005-08-18-RA-653.
Using in situ spectrometry data and visual system modeling, we investigate whether the colors conferred to the reef-building corals by GFP-like proteins would look colorful not only to humans, but also to fish occupying different ecological niches on the reef. Some GFP-like proteins, most notably fluorescent greens and nonfluorescent chromoproteins, indeed generate intense color signals. An unexpected finding was that fluorescent proteins might also make corals appear less colorful to fish, counterbalancing the effect of absorption by the photosynthetic pigments of the endosymbiotic algae, which might be a form of protection against herbivores. We conclude that GFP-determined coloration of corals may be an important factor in visual ecology of the reef fishes.
利用原位光谱数据和视觉系统建模，我们研究了由类绿色荧光蛋白赋予造礁珊瑚的颜色，是否不仅对人类而言色彩斑斓，对栖息在珊瑚礁上不同生态位的鱼类来说也是如此。一些类绿色荧光蛋白，尤其是荧光绿色蛋白和非荧光色素蛋白，确实能产生强烈的颜色信号。一个意外的发现是，荧光蛋白可能也会使珊瑚对鱼类而言显得色彩没那么鲜艳，从而抵消了共生藻类光合色素吸收作用的影响，这可能是一种抵御食草动物的保护形式。我们得出结论，由绿色荧光蛋白决定的珊瑚颜色可能是珊瑚礁鱼类视觉生态中的一个重要因素。
