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All-trans-retinal
Retinal (also known as retinaldehyde) is a polyene chromophore. Retinal, bound to proteins called opsins, is the chemical basis of visual phototransduction, the light-detection stage of visual perception (vision). Some microorganisms use retinal to convert light into metabolic energy. In fact, a recent study suggests most living organisms on our planet ~3 billion years ago used retinal to convert sunlight into energy rather than chlorophyll. Since retinal absorbs mostly green light and transmits purple light, this gave rise to the Purple Earth Hypothesis. There are many forms of vitamin A — all of which are converted to retinal, which cannot be made without them. Retinal itself is considered to be a form of vitamin A when eaten by an animal. The number of different molecules that can be converted to retinal varies from species to species. Retinal was originally called retinene, and was renamed after it was discovered to be vitamin A aldehyde. Vertebrate animals ingest retin ...
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Opsin
Animal opsins are G-protein-coupled receptors and a group of proteins made light-sensitive via a chromophore, typically retinal. When bound to retinal, opsins become Retinylidene proteins, but are usually still called opsins regardless. Most prominently, they are found in photoreceptor cells of the retina. Five classical groups of opsins are involved in vision, mediating the conversion of a photon of light into an electrochemical signal, the first step in the visual transduction cascade. Another opsin found in the mammalian retina, melanopsin, is involved in circadian rhythms and pupillary reflex but not in vision. Humans have in total nine opsins. Beside vision and light perception, opsins may also sense temperature, sound, or chemicals. Structure and function Animal opsins detect light and are the molecules that allow us to see. Opsins are G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which are chemoreceptors and have seven transmembrane domains forming a binding pocket for a ligand ...
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Visual Phototransduction
Visual phototransduction is the sensory transduction process of the visual system by which light is detected to yield nerve impulses in the rod cells and cone cells in the retina of the eye in humans and other vertebrates. It relies on the visual cycle, a sequence of biochemical reactions in which a molecule of retinal bound to opsin undergoes photoisomerization, initiates a cascade that signals detection of the photon, and is indirectly restored to its photosensitive isomer for reuse. Phototransduction in some invertebrates such as fruit flies relies on similar processes. Photoreceptors The photoreceptor cells involved in vertebrate vision are the rods, the cones, and the photosensitive ganglion cells (ipRGCs). These cells contain a chromophore ( 11-''cis''-retinal, the aldehyde of vitamin A1 and light-absorbing portion) that is bound to a cell membrane protein, opsin. Rods deal with low light level and do not mediate color vision. Cones, on the other hand, can code th ...
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Beta-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase
In enzymology, beta-carotene 15,15'-dioxygenase, () is an enzyme with systematic name ''beta-carotene:oxygen 15,15'-dioxygenase (bond-cleaving)''. In human it is encoded by the BCDO2 gene. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction : beta-carotene + O2 → 2 all-trans-retinal This is a cleavage reaction which cleaves β-carotene, utilizes molecular oxygen, is enhanced by the presence of bile salts and thyroxine, and generates two molecules of retinal. In humans, the enzyme is present in the small intestine and liver. The dioxygenase also asymmetrically cleaves beta-cryptoxanthin, ''trans''-β-apo-8'-carotenal, beta-4'-apo-β-carotenal, alpha-carotene and gamma-carotene in decreasing order, creating one retinal molecule, all of these being substrates with a carbon chain greater than C30, with at least one unsubstituted β-ionone ring. This enzyme belongs to the (enzymatically-defined) family of oxidoreductase In biochemistry, an oxidoreductase is an enzyme th ...
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Chromophore
A chromophore is the part of a molecule responsible for its color. The color that is seen by our eyes is the one not absorbed by the reflecting object within a certain wavelength spectrum of visible light. The chromophore is a region in the molecule where the energy difference between two separate molecular orbitals falls within the range of the visible spectrum. Visible light that hits the chromophore can thus be absorbed by exciting an electron from its ground state into an excited state. In biological molecules that serve to capture or detect light energy, the chromophore is the moiety that causes a conformational change in the molecule when hit by light. Conjugated pi-bond system chromophores Just like how two adjacent p-orbitals in a molecule will form a pi-bond, three or more adjacent p-orbitals in a molecule can form a conjugated pi-system. In a conjugated pi-system, electrons are able to capture certain photons as the electrons resonate along a certain distanc ...
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Insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. Their blood is not totally contained in vessels; some circulates in an open cavity known as the haemocoel. Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; In: potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within. Nearly all insects hatch from eggs ...
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Xanthophyll
Xanthophylls (originally phylloxanthins) are yellow pigments that occur widely in nature and form one of two major divisions of the carotenoid group; the other division is formed by the carotenes. The name is from Greek (, "yellow") and (, "leaf"), due to their formation of the yellow band seen in early chromatography of leaf pigments. Molecular structure As both are carotenoids, xanthophylls and carotenes are similar in structure, but xanthophylls contain oxygen atoms while carotenes are ''purely hydrocarbons'', which do not contain oxygen. Their content of oxygen causes xanthophylls to be more polar (in molecular structure) than carotenes, and causes their separation from carotenes in many types of chromatography. (Carotenes are usually more orange in color than xanthophylls.) Xanthophylls present their oxygen either as hydroxyl groups and/or as hydrogen atoms substituted by oxygen atoms when acting as a bridge to form epoxides. Occurrence Like other carotenoids, xanth ...
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Photosynthetic
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars and starches, which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water – hence the name ''photosynthesis'', from the Greek ''phōs'' (), "light", and ''synthesis'' (), "putting together". Most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis; such organisms are called photoautotrophs. Photosynthesis is largely responsible for producing and maintaining the oxygen content of the Earth's atmosphere, and supplies most of the energy necessary for life on Earth. Although photosynthesis is performed differently by different species, the process always begins when energy from light is absorbed by proteins called reaction centers that contain green chlorophyll (and other colored) pigments/chromophore ...
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Invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate subphylum Vertebrata. Familiar examples of invertebrates include arthropods, mollusks, annelids, echinoderms and cnidarians. The majority of animal species are invertebrates; one estimate puts the figure at 97%. Many invertebrate taxa have a greater number and variety of species than the entire subphylum of Vertebrata. Invertebrates vary widely in size, from 50 μm (0.002 in) rotifers to the 9–10 m (30–33 ft) colossal squid. Some so-called invertebrates, such as the Tunicata and Cephalochordata, are more closely related to vertebrates than to other invertebrates. This makes the invertebrates paraphyletic, so the term has little meaning in taxonomy. Etymology The word "invertebrate" comes from the Latin word ''vertebra' ...
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Petroleum Ether
Petroleum ether is the petroleum fraction consisting of aliphatic hydrocarbons and boiling in the range 35–60 °C, and commonly used as a laboratory solvent. Despite the name, petroleum ether is not classified as an ether; the term is used only figuratively, signifying extreme lightness and volatility. Properties The very lightest, most volatile liquid hydrocarbon solvents that can be bought from laboratory chemical suppliers may also be offered under the name petroleum ether. Petroleum ether consists mainly of aliphatic hydrocarbons and is usually low on aromatics. It is commonly hydrodesulfurized and may be hydrogenated to reduce the amount of aromatic and other unsaturated hydrocarbons. Petroleum ether bears normally a descriptive suffix giving the boiling range. Thus, from the leading international laboratory chemical suppliers it is possible to buy various petroleum ethers with boiling ranges such as 30–50 °C, 40–60 °C, 50–70 °C, 60–80&nb ...
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Squid
True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting these criteria. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, and a mantle. They are mainly soft-bodied, like octopuses, but have a small internal skeleton in the form of a rod-like gladius or pen, made of chitin. Squid diverged from other cephalopods during the Jurassic and occupy a similar role to teleost fish as open water predators of similar size and behaviour. They play an important role in the open water food web. The two long tentacles are used to grab prey and the eight arms to hold and control it. The beak then cuts the food into suitable size chunks for swallowing. Squid are rapid swimmers, moving by jet propulsion, and largely locate their prey by sight. They are among the most intelligent o ...
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Xanthophylls
Xanthophylls (originally phylloxanthins) are yellow pigments that occur widely in nature and form one of two major divisions of the carotenoid group; the other division is formed by the carotenes. The name is from Greek (, "yellow") and (, "leaf"), due to their formation of the yellow band seen in early chromatography of leaf pigments. Molecular structure As both are carotenoids, xanthophylls and carotenes are similar in structure, but xanthophylls contain oxygen atoms while carotenes are ''purely hydrocarbons'', which do not contain oxygen. Their content of oxygen causes xanthophylls to be more polar (in molecular structure) than carotenes, and causes their separation from carotenes in many types of chromatography. (Carotenes are usually more orange in color than xanthophylls.) Xanthophylls present their oxygen either as hydroxyl groups and/or as hydrogen atoms substituted by oxygen atoms when acting as a bridge to form epoxides. Occurrence Like other carotenoids, xant ...
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