Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Geoffrey E. Hill
Summary: The discovery of a new enzyme involved in the production of red carotenoid pigments in vertebrates sheds light on the potential role of shared biochemical pathways in understanding honest signaling through plumage coloration.
Article
Entomology
Doekele G. Stavenga, Heinrich L. Leertouwer, Kentaro Arikawa
Summary: Previously, it was believed that the coloration of butterfly wings was related to display and camouflage during resting. However, the high translucence of butterfly wings allows light to pass through, increasing their visibility during flight. The reflected light on the upper side of the wings is used for signal transmission, while the lower side is used for camouflage. Therefore, transmitted light also plays an important role in butterfly's visual signaling.
Article
Biology
Zeke W. Rowe, Daniel J. D. Austin, Nicol Chippington, William Flynn, Finn Starkey, Edward J. Wightman, Nicholas E. Scott-Samuel, Innes C. Cuthill
Summary: Camouflage is crucial for animal survival, but background complexity also plays a role in detectability. Experimental findings show that even poorly camouflaged animals can benefit from high visual complexity backgrounds, reducing their detectability and increasing their chances of survival. The study suggests that complex backgrounds can mitigate the effects of poor camouflage, impacting both camouflage evolution and habitat preferences.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Ronald L. Rutowski, Nicolas Lessios, Brett Seymoure, Kimberly V. Pegram, Andrew Raymundo
Summary: Iridescent colors in animals may be affected by the arrangement of the observer and light source, and senders can enhance signal perception by adjusting their behavior. By studying the courtship behavior of male pipevine swallowtail butterflies, we found that the swooping maneuver of males can enhance the visibility of their iridescent color signal to females.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Guaraci Duran Cordeiro, Stefan Doetterl
Summary: This study investigates how temperature-induced changes in floral scent of strawberry affect chemical communication with its main bee pollinators. The results show that at higher temperatures, strawberry flowers do not emit detectable scent, which may reduce the attractiveness of the flowers to bees.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Theodosia Woo, Xitong Liang, Dominic A. Evans, Olivier Fernandez, Friedrich Kretschmer, Sam Reiter, Gilles Laurent
Summary: Cephalopods, such as cuttlefish, are able to escape detection through camouflage. This behavior relies on visual assessment, interpretation of visual-texture statistics, and matching these statistics using skin chromatophores controlled by motoneurons in the brain. The study reveals that cuttlefish camouflage patterns are not stereotyped, but vary and meander through a high-dimensional skin-pattern space.
Review
Ecology
Manisha Koneru, Tim Caro
Summary: Human-induced environmental changes have negative effects on animals' coloration, altering their signaling and display patterns. Factors such as chemical pollution, light pollution, and climate warming make it increasingly challenging for animals to maintain their natural coloration.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Vladimir I. Kolobov, Robert R. Arslanbekov
Summary: This study uses a hybrid kinetic-fluid model to investigate ionization waves in a low-current plasma column. The nature of plasma stratification is clarified by solving kinetic equations, drift-diffusion equations, and Poisson equations. It is confirmed that nonlocal effects are responsible for the formation of moving striations in low plasma densities and low values of pR. The calculated properties of self-excited waves agree with experimental data.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sara. M. M. Stieb, Fabio Cortesi, Luiz Jardim de Queiroz, Karen. L. L. Carleton, Ole Seehausen, N. Justin Marshall
Summary: This study investigates the expression of visual pigment gene (opsin) in coral reef fishes and finds that algivorous species with orange/red colors exhibit high expression of long-wavelength-sensitive (lws) opsin. This enhances their ability to detect algae and orange/red-colored conspecifics, possibly enabling social signalling.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hye-Won Mok, Min-Jung Ko, Hye-Jae Choi, Myong-Soo Chung
Summary: The concentrations of chlorogenic acid, neochlorogenic acid, and cryptochlorogenic acid in hibiscus are influenced by the extraction conditions, including extraction time and temperature. Subcritical-water extraction is an ecofriendly and efficient method for extracting active compounds from hibiscus.
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Review
Biology
Pedro Andrade, Miguel Carneiro
Summary: Pterins, as a major source of animal coloration, have been less studied compared to other pigment classes, despite their ubiquity in nature. With intermediate characteristics between melanins and carotenoids, they present unique opportunities for addressing general questions about the biology of coloration.
Article
Ecology
Mahendra Varma, Gabe Winter, Hannah M. Rowland, Holger Schielzeth
Summary: This study focuses on the color development of two green-brown polymorphic insect species and finds that color morph differences begin to develop in the second nymphal stage and are clearly defined by the third nymphal stage. The shed skins of late nymphal stages can be identified based on their yellowish coloration. The study also reveals variation in how different potential predators perceive these color morphs.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Xiaoming Yao
Summary: In this study, a novel visual privacy protection algorithm based on adaptive histogram shift adjustment is proposed to camouflage visual identifiers in digital images. Inspired by camouflage in animals, the algorithm effectively blurs and segments the image, and then adaptively re-joins or splits it using randomly chosen shifts to achieve de-identification.
MULTIMEDIA TOOLS AND APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Shaohang Li, Yanxiao Dong, Dalu Li, Suli Shi, Na Zhao, Jielei Liao, Yang Liu, Huoying Chen
Summary: In this study, the researchers found that exogenous methyl-jasmonate (MeJA) application can effectively rescue the poor coloration of eggplant fruit skins under low light conditions. They identified a JA-response factor, SmMYB5, as an anthocyanin positive regulator and revealed the regulatory relationship between JA and light signaling in regulating anthocyanin synthesis. They also demonstrated the interactions between SmMYB5 and other proteins involved in this process, as well as the degradation of SmMYB5 regulated by light.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Dries Hulens, Wiebe Van Ranst, Ying Cao, Toon Goedeme
Summary: This paper presents the development of a visual navigation capability for a small drone enabling it to autonomously approach and touch flowers. The experiments demonstrate the technical feasibility of this method, which can be retrained for different types of flowers.
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Casper J. van der Kooi, Johannes Spaethe
Article
Plant Sciences
M. Kraaij, C. J. van Der Kooi
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Casper J. van der Kooi, Jeff Ollerton
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Anne C. M. Verloop, Adrian G. Dyer, Casper J. van der Kooi
Article
Plant Sciences
Ties Ausma, Jeffrey Mulder, Thomas R. Polman, Casper J. van der Kooi, Luit J. De Kok
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Casper J. van der Kooi, Mario Vallejo-Marin, Sara D. Leonhardt
Summary: The relationship between plants and animal pollinators is often asymmetric, depending on the perspective taken, and there is variation in (a)symmetry within and between species as well as geographic locations. By considering different viewpoints from the plant and pollinator sides, new insights are provided for studies on the maintenance and evolution of animal pollination and on the (a)symmetry in plant-pollinator interactions.
Article
Plant Sciences
Doekele G. Stavenga, Hein L. Leertouwer, Bettina Dudek, Casper J. van der Kooi
Summary: The absorption spectra of flavonoid pigments in flowers are pH-dependent, with different flowers showing distinct color changes at varying pH levels, suggesting a role of cellular pH in flower coloration. Anthocyanins in red poppy and Mandevilla flowers exhibit a bathochromic shift at higher pH, while nudicaulin derivatives in M. cambrica do not show this wavelength change, highlighting the importance of pH in modulating flower coloration. These findings have implications for studies on flower color evolution.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Casper J. van der Kooi
Summary: Floral pigments play a crucial role in determining flower colors, with an intermediate amount of pigment found to yield the highest color contrast according to an optical model. This finding is consistent with previous behavioral experiments on bees, suggesting that the optimal amount of pigment is essential for maximizing visibility to pollinators. The study also discusses the implications for plant-pollinator signaling, intraspecific flower color variation, and the associated costs of flower color.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ties Ausma, Vidisha Bansal, Marjan Kraaij, Anne C. M. Verloop, Anna Gasperl, Maria Muller, Stanislav Kopriva, Luit J. De Kok, Casper J. van der Kooi
Summary: Research found that sulphur deficiency has significant impacts on floral displays, causing a reduction in flower number, abnormal flower morphology, and smaller pollen, particularly affecting the pigmentation of yellow flowers. These effects are specific to sulphur depletion rather than general nutrient limitation, potentially undermining ecosystem functioning by affecting pollinators.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Casper J. van der Kooi, Almut Kelber
Summary: Studies on animal color vision often focus on spectral distribution while ignoring the intensity aspect of stimuli. However, experimental data and optical modeling suggest that achromatic cues of plant flowers play an important role in plant-pollinator signaling.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Casper J. van der Kooi, Johannes Spaethe
Summary: The research on the importance of flower colors to plants and pollinators has shown that common calculation procedures may have problems, and studies on animal color vision do not provide grounds for assuming that pollinators perceive saturation, chroma, or spectral purity like humans do. Alternative, behaviorally validated metrics for the visibility of flowers are suggested for a better understanding of flower color in plant-pollinator signaling.
Editorial Material
Ecology
Casper J. van der Kooi, Johannes Spaethe, Sara Diana Leonhardt
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Casper J. van der Kooi, Rowan F. Sage
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Casper J. van der Kooi, Lora Reuvers, Johannes Spaethe
Summary: Plants use attractive flowers to advertise their presence and attract pollinators. Understanding the relationship between floral traits and reward status is crucial in pollination biology. However, the use of different terms and concepts in studies on plant phenotype-reward associations hinders broader synthesis.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Doekele G. Stavenga, Marten Staal, Casper J. Van der Kooi
FARADAY DISCUSSIONS
(2020)
