Colour and polarization visual pathways of the northern anchovy: from neuroethology to machine sensor technology

北方凤尾鱼的颜色和偏振视觉通路：从神经行为学到机器传感器技术

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-05722
• 负责人: NovalesFlamarique, Inigo
• 金额: $ 5.83万
• 依托单位: Simon Fraser University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=744804
• 关键词: Colour; polarization; visual; pathways; northern

In addition to wavelength (colour) and intensity (number of photons), many invertebrates can detect the polarization of light and use it for a variety of purposes including orientation, prey detection, predator avoidance, and communication. The polarization of light refers to the predominant plane of electric field oscillations of the photons that comprise it. If all the photons have electric fields that oscillate in the same plane, light is termed 100% linearly polarized in that plane (the E-vector plane). In vertebrates, polarization vision, including a cellular mechanism explaining polarization detection, has only been established for some species of anchovies. In these animals, a set of retinal cone photoreceptors are axially dichroic, i.e., they are sensitive to the polarization (E-vector orientation) of incident light that enters the eye. This is due to the fact that, unlike the cones in other vertebrates examined so far, these axially dichroic cones have lamellae oriented parallel to the length of the cell. Two such cones (short and long) have lamellae that are perpendicular to each other forming the inputs to two retinal channels with orthogonal polarization sensitivity. I have recently shown that the northern anchovy, Engraulis mordax, has a ventral retina that is compartmentalized for colour and polarization sensitivity, the first discovery of its kind among vertebrates. The ventro-temporal retina has axially dichroic cones that mediate polarization but not colour sensitivity at the level of the optic nerve, whereas the ventro-nasal retina has triple cones (with lamellae transverse to the photoreceptor's length, as in other vertebrates) and is not polarization-sensitive but colour-sensitive. Such functional segregation of visual modalities is only known in insects where a specialized area of the compound eye processes polarization information whereas the rest of the eye is devoted to colour vision. The properties of cells that make up the colour and polarization visual pathways of anchovies are unknown. Using a combination of molecular (qPCR, in-situ hybridization), electrophysiological (intracellular/patch clamp), and mathematical modeling techniques, this research will attempt to unveil the properties of cells that underlie the colour and polarization visual pathways of the northern anchovy. To understand the animal's use of polarization vision in nature, behavioural studies will be carried out to test the hypothesis that polarization sensitivity enhances target contrast perception of zooplankton by the anchovy, thereby improving its foraging performance. Lastly, this research will optimize novel polarization sensors inspired by optical structures found in the eyes of anchovies. These sensors are far superior to those presently found in the market place and could revolutionize the industry through mass applications in devices like cameras and cell phones.

除了波长（颜色）和强度（光子数）之外，许多无脊椎动物还可以检测光的偏振并将其用于多种目的，包括定向、猎物检测、躲避捕食者和通信。光的偏振是指组成它的光子的电场振荡的主平面。如果所有光子都具有在同一平面内振荡的电场，则光在该平面（E 向量平面）中被称为 100% 线偏振。在脊椎动物中，偏振视觉，包括解释偏振检测的细胞机制，仅在某些凤尾鱼物种中建立。在这些动物中，一组视网膜锥体感光器是轴向二向色的，即它们对进入眼睛的入射光的偏振（E矢量方向）敏感。这是因为，与迄今为止检查的其他脊椎动物中的视锥细胞不同，这些轴向二色性视锥细胞具有平行于细胞长度方向的薄片。两个这样的视锥细胞（短的和长的）具有彼此垂直的薄片，形成具有正交偏振灵敏度的两个视网膜通道的输入。 我最近证明，北方鳀鱼（Engraulis mordax）的腹侧视网膜可根据颜色和偏振敏感性进行划分，这是脊椎动物中首次发现此类视网膜。腹颞视网膜具有轴向二向色锥体，可介导视神经水平的偏振但不介导颜色敏感性，而腹鼻视网膜具有三锥体（与其他脊椎动物一样，片层横向于感光器的长度）并且不具有色敏感性。偏振敏感但颜色敏感。这种视觉模式的功能分离仅在昆虫中已知，其中复眼的专门区域处理偏振信息，而眼睛的其余部分则致力于色觉。构成凤尾鱼颜色和偏振视觉通路的细胞特性尚不清楚。这项研究将结合分子（qPCR、原位杂交）、电生理学（细胞内/膜片钳）和数学建模技术，试图揭示北方鳀鱼颜色和偏振视觉通路背后的细胞特性。为了了解动物在自然界中对偏振视觉的使用，将进行行为研究来检验偏振敏感性增强凤尾鱼对浮游动物的目标对比感知的假设，从而提高其觅食性能。最后，这项研究将优化新型偏振传感器，其灵感来自于凤尾鱼眼睛中发现的光学结构。这些传感器远远优于目前市场上的传感器，并且可以通过在相机和手机等设备中的大量应用来彻底改变行业。