Heart cockle shells transmit sunlight to photosymbiotic algae using bundled fiber optic cables and condensing lenses.

Fuente: PubMed
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Autores principales: McCoy, Dakota E, Burns, Dale H, Klopfer, Elissa, Herndon, Liam K, Ogunlade, Babatunde, Dionne, Jennifer A, Johnsen, Sönke
Formato: Artículo científico
Lenguaje:en
Publicado: Nature communications 2024
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author McCoy, Dakota E
Burns, Dale H
Klopfer, Elissa
Herndon, Liam K
Ogunlade, Babatunde
Dionne, Jennifer A
Johnsen, Sönke
author_facet McCoy, Dakota E
Burns, Dale H
Klopfer, Elissa
Herndon, Liam K
Ogunlade, Babatunde
Dionne, Jennifer A
Johnsen, Sönke
McCoy, Dakota E
Burns, Dale H
Klopfer, Elissa
Herndon, Liam K
Ogunlade, Babatunde
Dionne, Jennifer A
Johnsen, Sönke
collection PubMed - marine biology
contents Heart cockle shells transmit sunlight to photosymbiotic algae using bundled fiber optic cables and condensing lenses. McCoy, Dakota E Burns, Dale H Klopfer, Elissa Herndon, Liam K Ogunlade, Babatunde Dionne, Jennifer A Johnsen, Sönke Animals Photosynthesis Sunlight Cardiidae Symbiosis Ultraviolet Rays Fiber Optic Technology Many animals convergently evolved photosynthetic symbioses. In bivalves, giant clams (Cardiidae: Tridacninae) gape open to irradiate their symbionts, but heart cockles (Cardiidae: Fraginae) stay closed because sunlight passes through transparent windows in their shells. Here, we show that heart cockles (Corculum cardissa and spp.) use biophotonic adaptations to transmit sunlight for photosynthesis. Heart cockles transmit 11-62% of photosynthetically active radiation (mean = 31%) but only 5-28% of potentially harmful UV radiation (mean = 14%) to their symbionts. Beneath each window, microlenses condense light to penetrate more deeply into the symbiont-rich tissue. Within each window, aragonite forms narrow fibrous prisms perpendicular to the surface. These bundled "fiber optic cables" project images through the shell with a resolution of >100 lines/mm. Parameter sweeps show that the aragonite fibers' size (~1 µm diameter), morphology (long fibers rather than plates), and orientation (along the optical c-axis) transmit more light than many other possible designs. Heart cockle shell windows are thus: (i) the first instance of fiber optic cable bundles in an organism to our knowledge; (ii) a second evolution, with epidermal cells in angiosperm plants, of condensing lenses for photosynthesis; and (iii) a photonic system that efficiently transmits useful light while protecting photosymbionts from UV radiation.
format Artículo científico
id pubmed_39562764
institution PubMed
language en
publishDate 2024
publisher Nature communications
record_format pubmed
spellingShingle Heart cockle shells transmit sunlight to photosymbiotic algae using bundled fiber optic cables and condensing lenses.
McCoy, Dakota E
Burns, Dale H
Klopfer, Elissa
Herndon, Liam K
Ogunlade, Babatunde
Dionne, Jennifer A
Johnsen, Sönke
Animals
Photosynthesis
Sunlight
Cardiidae
Symbiosis
Ultraviolet Rays
Fiber Optic Technology
Heart cockle shells transmit sunlight to photosymbiotic algae using bundled fiber optic cables and condensing lenses. McCoy, Dakota E Burns, Dale H Klopfer, Elissa Herndon, Liam K Ogunlade, Babatunde Dionne, Jennifer A Johnsen, Sönke Animals Photosynthesis Sunlight Cardiidae Symbiosis Ultraviolet Rays Fiber Optic Technology Many animals convergently evolved photosynthetic symbioses. In bivalves, giant clams (Cardiidae: Tridacninae) gape open to irradiate their symbionts, but heart cockles (Cardiidae: Fraginae) stay closed because sunlight passes through transparent windows in their shells. Here, we show that heart cockles (Corculum cardissa and spp.) use biophotonic adaptations to transmit sunlight for photosynthesis. Heart cockles transmit 11-62% of photosynthetically active radiation (mean = 31%) but only 5-28% of potentially harmful UV radiation (mean = 14%) to their symbionts. Beneath each window, microlenses condense light to penetrate more deeply into the symbiont-rich tissue. Within each window, aragonite forms narrow fibrous prisms perpendicular to the surface. These bundled "fiber optic cables" project images through the shell with a resolution of >100 lines/mm. Parameter sweeps show that the aragonite fibers' size (~1 µm diameter), morphology (long fibers rather than plates), and orientation (along the optical c-axis) transmit more light than many other possible designs. Heart cockle shell windows are thus: (i) the first instance of fiber optic cable bundles in an organism to our knowledge; (ii) a second evolution, with epidermal cells in angiosperm plants, of condensing lenses for photosynthesis; and (iii) a photonic system that efficiently transmits useful light while protecting photosymbionts from UV radiation.
title Heart cockle shells transmit sunlight to photosymbiotic algae using bundled fiber optic cables and condensing lenses.
topic Animals
Photosynthesis
Sunlight
Cardiidae
Symbiosis
Ultraviolet Rays
Fiber Optic Technology
url https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39562764/