La Idea Química: Camouflage Pigmentation
La Idea Química: Camouflage Pigmentation
La Idea Química: Camouflage Pigmentation
JanuaryMay 2016
10th edition
Camouflage Pigmentation
By Christian Montes Castillo | Active member of ACS UPR-Ag
In this edition:
Camouflage Pigmentation
Chemistry of bioluminescence
and bio-fluorescence
4-5
What is synesthesia?
Anticancer activity
Pigmentation in plants
Camouflage is a
biological adaptation acquired by many organisms
during evolution. This adaptation can help them
hide from predators and
stay alive in situations that
can cause their death. This
adaptation is variable, because it can be expressed as
a changing color mechanism or seen as physical
appearance of the organism. In addition, organism
that are susceptible to be
hunted are not the only
ones who develop these
traits; predators also developed this during evolution.
These traits allowed them
not to be seen by their prey.
Also, it increases the probability of finding food. From
this perspective we can see
that both organisms; the
predator and prey had to
develop these traits and
mechanism for environmental adaptation and
survival.
One
organism
that uses this mechanism
for protection is the octopus. The octopus is a mollusk that belongs to the
cephalopods family. These
creatures are characterized
by having their extremities
attached to their head and
the ability to change colors
quickly. In addition, octopus are capable of altering
skin texture to assimilate
their surroundings. This
action can be done by the
presence of specialized cells
found within their skin.
This cells are chromatophores (Fig. 1) and they
have an organelle within
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Marine Species
Bioluminescence, like biofluorescence is found in diverse
organisms. These may be microscopic like some bacteria
and bioluminescent protists
that maintain symbiotic relationships with other organisms, bioluminescent insects
such as fireflies and even corals, fish, algae and, for the first
time evidenced bioluminescent
reptiles.
The bio-fluorescent reptile is
known as the Hawksbill sea
turtle; recently found near the
Salomon islands by marine
biologist David Gruberfound.
In this case, the Hawksbill sea
turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata,
critically endangered species,
absorbs the light reflected by
the sea and emits it as green
and or red light.
Findings like these have led
scientists to the use of mechanisms of bio-fluorescence and
of the reactions of bioluminescence in broad fields of Science
and Medicine, for example in
Medicine
A recent study, for example,
published by a team of scientists under the name "Dynamic
bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging of the effects of
the antivascular agent Combretastatin-A4P (CA4P) on
brain tumor xenografts", reveals the use of scanning of
bioluminescent and fluorescent images for the study of
the responses of tumors to
therapies. According to the
study, the technology allowed
to obtain more concise results
using less laboratory rats, resulted to be validate and less
expensive when compared to
other methods.
The observation of the world
that surrounds us, and of all
the processes and reactions
that take place in it, keeps inspiring scientists to study
chemistry on whole new levels
and in nature in search of
knowledge, findings and their
application.
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10th edition
Color of Metals
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Page 5
Aurora australis
By Deyaneira Vargas | Active member of ACS UPR-Ag
Aurora australis is a
phenomenon found
in the southern hemisphere of structural
form with a brightness that allows the
emission of light rays
without raising the
temperature on the
night sky. At night
the aurora begins
with a very isolated
elongated arc that is
spreading on the horizon and goes eastwest.
During the
midnight, the bow
can increase in brightness. In addition, it
possesses very different
colors
that
change rapidly with
time. They begin to
form each of the elevations which are
formed on the surface
along an arc with vertical structures that
resemble light rays
very long and thin.
The sky can fill intervals of spirals and
light rays move rapidly from horizon to
horizon and can last a
few minutes or last
for hours. As dawn
approaches the whole
process is gradually
subsiding and only
small areas of the sky
looks bright until the
Name:
Aurora
borealis
Aurora
australis
Effect:
Charged
particles excite
atmospheric
molecules
Charged
particles
excite
atmospheric
molecules
Location:
Northern
Southern
hemisphere hemisphere
Pge 6
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What is Synesthesia?
By Widaliz Vega Rodrguez | Active member of ACS UPR-Ag
Synesthesia is
when 2 unrelated senses
are activated concurrently.
People with synesthesia are
called synesthetes. Synesthesia occurs involuntarily
and is irrepressible; it happens on its own response to
stimuli. For example, a non
-synesthete will experience
a smell and then apply a
picture from its memory to
it, unless he has never experienced that smell before.
In contrast, a synesthete
will experience the smell,
and the mental picture they
will see are unrelated textures and colors assigned to
that experience, they will
experience the same mental picture, even if they
have never experienced the
smell. Its seen in 1:100,000
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of producing pigments.
terium cocobacillus
mechanisms of action to
intracellular signals.
other microorganisms,
or reproduction.
Prodigiosin (PG) is a
colleagues
deter-
However,
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10th edition
also influenced
by the pigmentation. The
flower color attracts pollinators such as bees (Fig.
11), butterflies and hummingbirds, that carry pollen and facilitate fertilization. Pigmentation of
fruits and seeds attracts
ACS UPRAg Earth Day at the Chemistry Festival on April 24, 2016.
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References
Camouflage Pigmentation
Arrington, D. What is camouflage in animals: definition and examples. Definition of
camouflage in animals. Study, n.d. http://
study.com/academy/lesson/what-iscamouflage-in-animals-definition-examples
-quiz.html
Labrador Garrido, A. Comunicacin en
Cefalpodos; Cromatforos. Universidad de
Sevilla,
n.d.
http://alojoptico.us.es/
portaleto/comunicacion_cefalopodos/
cefa_neuroanatomia.htm
Mthger L.M., Denton E. J., Marshall J. N.,
Hanlon R.T. Mechanisms and behavioural
functions of structural coloration in cephalopods. National Center for Biotechnology
Information, U.S. National Library of
Medicine.
[Online],
2009.
http://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC2706477/
Meyer, F. How octopuses and squids change
color. Ocean portal find your blue. n.d.
http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-news/howoctopuses-and-squids-change-color
Chemistry of Bioluminescence and Biofluorescence
Norris Cotton Cancer Center DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center. 'Firefly' mechanism makes cancer studies more efficient,
less expensive. ScienceDaily. April 1, 2015.
www.sciencedaily.com/
releases/2015/04/150401161512.htm
What is Synesthesia?