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Colour-producing beta-keratin nanofibres in blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) feathers

(2011) BIOLOGY LETTERS. 7(4). p.543-546
Author
Organization
Abstract
The colours of living organisms are produced by the differential absorption of light by pigments (e. g. carotenoids, melanins) and/or by the physical interactions of light with biological nanostructures, referred to as structural colours. Only two fundamental morphologies of non-iridescent nanostructures are known in feathers, and recent work has proposed that they self-assemble by intracellular phase separation processes. Here, we report a new biophotonic nanostructure in the non-iridescent blue feather barbs of blue penguins (Eudyptula minor) composed of parallel beta-keratin nanofibres organized into densely packed bundles. Synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering and two-dimensional Fourier analysis of electron micrographs of the barb nanostructure revealed short-range order in the organization of fibres at the appropriate size scale needed to produce the observed colour by coherent scattering. These two-dimensional quasi-ordered penguin nanostructures are convergent with similar arrays of parallel collagen fibres in avian and mammalian skin, but constitute a novel morphology for feathers. The identification of a new class of beta-keratin nanostructures adds significantly to the known mechanisms of colour production in birds and suggests additional complexity in their self-assembly.
Keywords
structural colour, nanofibres, biophotonics, SCATTERING, NANOSTRUCTURES, EVOLUTION

Citation

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:

MLA
D’Alba, Liliana, et al. “Colour-Producing Beta-Keratin Nanofibres in Blue Penguin (Eudyptula Minor) Feathers.” BIOLOGY LETTERS, vol. 7, no. 4, 2011, pp. 543–46, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.1163.
APA
D’Alba, L., Saranathan, V., Clarke, J. A., Vinther, J. A., Prum, R. O., & Shawkey, M. (2011). Colour-producing beta-keratin nanofibres in blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) feathers. BIOLOGY LETTERS, 7(4), 543–546. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.1163
Chicago author-date
D’Alba, Liliana, Vinodkumar Saranathan, Julia A Clarke, Jakob A Vinther, Richard O Prum, and Matthew Shawkey. 2011. “Colour-Producing Beta-Keratin Nanofibres in Blue Penguin (Eudyptula Minor) Feathers.” BIOLOGY LETTERS 7 (4): 543–46. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.1163.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
D’Alba, Liliana, Vinodkumar Saranathan, Julia A Clarke, Jakob A Vinther, Richard O Prum, and Matthew Shawkey. 2011. “Colour-Producing Beta-Keratin Nanofibres in Blue Penguin (Eudyptula Minor) Feathers.” BIOLOGY LETTERS 7 (4): 543–546. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.1163.
Vancouver
1.
D’Alba L, Saranathan V, Clarke JA, Vinther JA, Prum RO, Shawkey M. Colour-producing beta-keratin nanofibres in blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) feathers. BIOLOGY LETTERS. 2011;7(4):543–6.
IEEE
[1]
L. D’Alba, V. Saranathan, J. A. Clarke, J. A. Vinther, R. O. Prum, and M. Shawkey, “Colour-producing beta-keratin nanofibres in blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) feathers,” BIOLOGY LETTERS, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 543–546, 2011.
@article{7176661,
  abstract     = {{The colours of living organisms are produced by the differential absorption of light by pigments (e. g. carotenoids, melanins) and/or by the physical interactions of light with biological nanostructures, referred to as structural colours. Only two fundamental morphologies of non-iridescent nanostructures are known in feathers, and recent work has proposed that they self-assemble by intracellular phase separation processes. Here, we report a new biophotonic nanostructure in the non-iridescent blue feather barbs of blue penguins (Eudyptula minor) composed of parallel beta-keratin nanofibres organized into densely packed bundles. Synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering and two-dimensional Fourier analysis of electron micrographs of the barb nanostructure revealed short-range order in the organization of fibres at the appropriate size scale needed to produce the observed colour by coherent scattering. These two-dimensional quasi-ordered penguin nanostructures are convergent with similar arrays of parallel collagen fibres in avian and mammalian skin, but constitute a novel morphology for feathers. The identification of a new class of beta-keratin nanostructures adds significantly to the known mechanisms of colour production in birds and suggests additional complexity in their self-assembly.}},
  author       = {{D'Alba, Liliana and Saranathan, Vinodkumar and Clarke, Julia A and Vinther, Jakob A and Prum, Richard O and Shawkey, Matthew}},
  issn         = {{1744-9561}},
  journal      = {{BIOLOGY LETTERS}},
  keywords     = {{structural colour,nanofibres,biophotonics,SCATTERING,NANOSTRUCTURES,EVOLUTION}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{543--546}},
  title        = {{Colour-producing beta-keratin nanofibres in blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) feathers}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.1163}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}

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