Studies On Biological Mechanisms And Bionic Models Associated With Self-Adaptive Color-Change Camouflage

Self-control of color features and autonomous detection of environmental changes are two major features of adaptive camouflage.In this thesis,we conducted fundamental researches on chromatophores in chameleon dermis,reflectin in squid iridocytes and temperature/light receptors in Arabidopsis thaliana,and explored their potentials for bionic applications.Findings in these fields provide bionic adaptive camouflage systems with new concepts,and technological bases.(1)There are three kinds of special chromatophores responsible for color change in chameleon.However,knowledge about their regulation mechanism and their integrated bionic applications are still limited.In this paper,the arrangement of xanthophores,iridophores and melanophores were explored,based on microstructure observations.We analyzed the function of purine crystals during formation of color and brightness in iridophores,verified the migration of melanin particles in melanophores during body brightness changes.Based on these results,a ?three-in-one? bionic multilayer demonstration device was designed,which controls not only color,but also saturation and brightness.This part of work can be used as a technical reserve for the bionic design in adaptive color camouflage system.(2)Reflectins in squids iridocytes have been a research hotspot recently,however,none of those studies has related this kind of protein with membrane system.Here,by monitoring the particle size under different conditions,the self-assembly behavior of reflectin was described.Subsequently,an artificial vesicle system was applied to simulate the cell membrane,on which the versatility of reflectin was discovered for the first time,including its function for membrane anchoring,membrane fusion and membrane spatial conformation maintaining.Further,a huge multilayer vesicle system was employed to simulate the inner and outer membranes of cells,supporting the construction of a protein-vesicle complex similar to iridocytes in composition,structure and morphology levels.Via this pioneering work,new methods were explored,new discoveries were obtained,and new mechanisms were revealed.All these outcomes together serve as a biological model for structural coloration in squids,and guide the construction of bionic reflective and diffractive optical equipment.(3)Considering the complexity of animal visual system,the light and temperature signaling pathways in Arabidopsis thaliana were adopted as objects for the searching of candidate visible and infrared sensors for the camouflage system.With the application of microarrays,R language,DAVID & GOEAST databases,together with qPCR,the extensive and close relationship between light and temperature signaling pathways in plants was verified.The following qPCR tests on mutants then successfully detected the essential roles of the long recognized photo-receptor phyB during heat tolerance formation,indicating it is a dual sensor for both light and temperature.This provides a biological prototype for the bionic design of environmental sensitive detectors.