This is the first systematic study of the genes underpinning structural colours -- not only in bacteria but in any living system.
- Villads Egede Johansen
The paper, published in the journal PNAS, is the first study of the genetics of structural colour - as seen in butterfly wings and peacock feathers - and paves the way for genetic research in a variety of structurally coloured organisms.
The study is a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and Dutch company Hoekmine BV and shows how genetics can change the colour, and appearance, of certain types of bacteria. The results open up the possibility of harvesting these bacteria for the large-scale manufacturing of nanostructured materials: biodegradable, non-toxic paints could be 'grown' and not made, for example.
Flavobacterium is a type of bacteria that packs together in colonies that produce striking metallic colours, which come not from pigments, but from their internal structure, which reflects light at certain wavelengths. Scientists are still puzzled as to how these intricate structures are genetically engineered by nature, however.
"It is crucial to map the genes responsible for the structural colouration for further understanding of how nanostructures are engineered in nature," said first author Villads Egede Johansen, from Cambridge's Department of Chemistry. "This is the first systematic study of the genes underpinning structural colours -- not only in bacteria but in any living system."
The researchers compared the genetic information to optical properties and anatomy of wild-type and mutated bacterial colonies to understand how genes regulate the colour of the colony.
Read the full story
Image:Colony of the Flavobacterium IR1
Credit: University of Cambridge
Reproduced courtesy of the Universityof Cambridge