English
 
Help Privacy Policy Disclaimer
  Advanced SearchBrowse

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT
Add to Basket
  Local TagsRelease HistoryDetailsSummary

Released
Journal Article

Gradients of orientation, composition and hydration of proteins for efficient light collection by the cornea of the horseshoe crab

MPS-Authors
/persons/resource/persons228694

Späker,  Oliver
Wolfgang Wagermaier, Biomaterialien, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons208551

Scoppola,  Ernesto       
Wolfgang Wagermaier, Biomaterialien, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons130964

Schmitt,  Clemens N. Z.       
Shahrouz Amini, Biomaterialien, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons121142

Bertinetti,  Luca       
Luca Bertinetti, Biomaterialien, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons121980

Wagermaier,  Wolfgang
Wolfgang Wagermaier, Biomaterialien, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons121298

Fratzl,  Peter
Peter Fratzl, Biomaterialien, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Max Planck Society;

External Resource
No external resources are shared
Fulltext (restricted access)
There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.
Fulltext (public)

Article.pdf
(Publisher version), 8MB

Supplementary Material (public)
There is no public supplementary material available
Citation

Späker, O., Taylor, G., Wilts, B., Slabý, T., Abdel-Rahman, M. A. K., Scoppola, E., et al. (2022). Gradients of orientation, composition and hydration of proteins for efficient light collection by the cornea of the horseshoe crab. Advanced Science, 9(33): 2203371. doi:10.1002/advs.202203371.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-6D80-B
Abstract
The lateral eyes of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, are the largest compound eyes within recent Arthropoda. While this visual system has been extensively described before, the precise mechanism allowing vision has remained controversial. Correlating quantitative refractive index (RI) mapping and detailed structural analysis, we demonstrate how gradients of RI in the cornea result from the hierarchical organization of chitin-protein fibers, heterogeneity in protein composition and bromine doping, as well as spatial variation in water content. Combining the realistic cornea structure and measured RI gradients with full-wave optical modelling and ray-tracing approaches, we show that the light collection mechanism depends on both refraction-based graded index (GRIN) optics and total internal reflection. The optical properties of the cornea are governed by different mechanisms at different hierarchical levels, demonstrating the remarkable versatility of arthropod cuticle.One-sentence summary Structural hierarchy and protein hydration determine the optical performance of the cornea of L. polyphemus.Competing Interest StatementTS and MAKAR are employed by TELIGHT. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests.