Extreme Vision: Ultimate Designs in Animal Optics

极致视觉：动物光学的终极设计

• 批准号: BB/G022917/1
• 负责人: Nicholas Roberts
• 金额: $ 94.09万
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2009 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FG022917%2F1
• 关键词: Extreme; Vision; Ultimate; Designs; Animal

Vision is the most fundamental of the senses, and it is exciting to imagine how the world appears to other animals. Imagine what seeing in 4 colours looks like? Whilst we understand some of the incredible visual abilities animals possess, such as ultra-violet vision or using mirrors instead of a lens, there are some remarkable visual adaptations that remain unsolved. The aim of my research is to discover the basis of some extraordinary unexplained visual capabilities in the animal kingdom. This is an important area of biology. Understanding how animals view and interact with their world is of elemental significance. Also, discovering the underlying principles behind such unusual capabilities has often led to new breakthroughs in technology. For example, learning how lobsters use reflecting mirrors in their eyes inspired new designs for telescopes. Ultimately, how properties of cells influence animal behavior is of great importance. In my proposed fellowship, I want to focus on the following two areas of vision research, which I believe are both timely and important and also compliment my research skills. Vision in the depths of the ocean is intriguing. In addition to the extreme cold and huge pressure, sunlight only penetrates to a quarter of the average ocean depth and the only usable light is bioluminescence. Many animals have evolved incredibly complex eyes to cope with this harsh physical and visual environment. However, we do not understand how such conditions affect vision in deep sea animals. I will be the first to understand this, by discovering how the light sensitive cells in deep sea eyes truly function when placed under real extreme temperatures and pressures. This work will provide us with a complete and unprecedented understanding into this important area of animal vision. The second theme in my research will examine the reasons behind a sensational new discovery. Recently, an animal called a mantis shrimp was shown to possess a cell within its eye that can precisely manipulate light far better than any man-made optics. However, how the cell does this remains a mystery. Some preliminary work I have done suggests how a combination of the cells structure and optical properties could be responsible for this capability. I will completely solve this problem and drive a new direction in animal vision research. I not only have both the proven expertise and skills to accomplish this goal, but I also already have existing working collaborations with Prof. Justin Marshall, UQ, Aus and Prof. Thomas Cronin, UMBC, USA. They were the principal investigators in the original discovery and such international support in this project will help ensure its success and high impact. Another important part of this work is its relevance to industrial applications. Such an efficient, man-made optical device does not currently exist but could be hugely beneficial to a range of scientific research. Discovering this mechanism would be of considerable interest to many optical scientists. In summary, the requested fellowship would allow me to discover some of the exciting, true visual capabilities of life in the largest and most diverse habitat on Earth.

视觉是最基本的感官，想象世界在其他动物眼中的样子是令人兴奋的。想象一下四种颜色是什么样子的？虽然我们了解动物拥有的一些令人难以置信的视觉能力，如紫外线视觉或使用镜子而不是透镜，但仍有一些显着的视觉适应尚未解决。我研究的目的是发现动物王国中一些无法解释的非凡视觉能力的基础。这是生物学的一个重要领域。了解动物如何看待世界并与世界互动具有重要意义。此外，发现这种不寻常能力背后的基本原理往往会导致技术上的新突破。例如，学习龙虾如何使用眼睛中的反射镜激发了望远镜的新设计。最终，细胞的特性如何影响动物的行为是非常重要的。在我提议的奖学金中，我想把重点放在视觉研究的以下两个领域，我认为这两个领域既及时又重要，也能补充我的研究技能。在海洋深处的视觉是耐人寻味的。除了极端寒冷和巨大的压力，阳光只能穿透平均海洋深度的四分之一，唯一可用的光是生物发光。许多动物进化出了非常复杂的眼睛，以科普这种恶劣的物理和视觉环境。然而，我们不知道这些条件如何影响深海动物的视力。我将是第一个理解这一点的人，通过发现当置于真实的极端温度和压力下时，深海眼睛中的感光细胞是如何真正发挥作用的。这项工作将为我们提供对动物视觉这一重要领域的完整且前所未有的了解。我研究的第二个主题将探讨一个轰动性新发现背后的原因。最近，一种叫做螳螂虾的动物被证明在它的眼睛里有一个细胞，它可以精确地操纵光线，比任何人造光学都要好。然而，细胞如何做到这一点仍然是一个谜。我所做的一些初步工作表明，细胞结构和光学特性的结合如何导致这种能力。我将彻底解决这个问题，并推动动物视觉研究的新方向。我不仅拥有实现这一目标的专业知识和技能，而且我已经与澳大利亚昆士兰大学的Justin马歇尔教授和美国UMBC的托马斯克罗宁教授进行了合作。他们是最初发现的主要调查人员，对该项目的这种国际支持将有助于确保其成功和高影响力。这项工作的另一个重要部分是它与工业应用的相关性。这种高效的人造光学设备目前还不存在，但可能对一系列科学研究非常有益。发现这种机制将引起许多光学科学家的极大兴趣。总之，申请的奖学金将使我能够在地球上最大和最多样化的栖息地发现一些令人兴奋的，真正的生命视觉能力。

项目成果

Selection of the intrinsic polarization properties of animal optical materials creates enhanced structural reflectivity and camouflage.

• DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0336
• 发表时间: 2017-07-05
• 期刊: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
• 作者: Feller KD;Jordan TM;Wilby D;Roberts NW
• 通讯作者: Roberts NW

Colour preference in Odontodactylus scyllarus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Stomatopoda)

• DOI: 10.1093/jcbiol/rux038
• 发表时间: 2017-07-01
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF CRUSTACEAN BIOLOGY
• 影响因子: 1.1
• 作者: Daly, Ilse M.;Tetley, Anna E.;Roberts, Nicholas W.
• 通讯作者: Roberts, Nicholas W.

Cyp27c1 Red-Shifts the Spectral Sensitivity of Photoreceptors by Converting Vitamin A1 into A2.

Cyp27c1 通过将维生素 A1 转化为 A2 来红移光感受器的光谱敏感性。

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.10.018
• 发表时间: 2015-12-07
• 期刊: Current biology : CB
• 作者: Enright JM;Toomey MB;Sato SY;Temple SE;Allen JR;Fujiwara R;Kramlinger VM;Nagy LD;Johnson KM;Xiao Y;How MJ;Johnson SL;Roberts NW;Kefalov VJ;Guengerich FP;Corbo JC
• 通讯作者: Corbo JC

The independence of eye movements in a stomatopod crustacean is task dependent.

• DOI: 10.1242/jeb.153692
• 发表时间: 2017-04-01
• 期刊: The Journal of experimental biology
• 作者: Daly IM;How MJ;Partridge JC;Roberts NW
• 通讯作者: Roberts NW

Dynamic polarization vision in mantis shrimps.

• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12140
• 发表时间: 2016-07-12
• 期刊: Nature communications
• 影响因子: 16.6
• 作者: Daly IM;How MJ;Partridge JC;Temple SE;Marshall NJ;Cronin TW;Roberts NW
• 通讯作者: Roberts NW