Abdominal Grey Color Variation along an Elevation Gradient in a Lizard

Color variation among populations is thought to be either due to genetic variation or phenotype plasticity.In this study,we found that an agamid lizard,Phrynocephalus theobaldi,inhabiting elevations greater than any other reptile,displayed a significantly darker spotted marking on the central ventral abdomen in higher populations than in lower populations.The grey spotted area only occurred in elevations>4200 m,and also increased with increased elevation.The ratio of the size of the dark colored area to the degree of skin luminance/reflectance was used to test whether the lizard has a larger and darker spotted area at higher elevations.This ratio was significantly positively associated with elevation rather than substrate color.The lizard did not display sexual difference in this phenotype.Temperature had a significant influence on the brightness of central abdomen,but temperature-related plasticity of this trait was much smaller than the magnitude of the difference between higher(>4200 m)and lower populations(<4200 m).Common garden experiments showed that genetic inheritance,rather than phenotype plasticity,played a dominant role in this variation.Our research addressed the darkness of a body region that is rarely analyzed because it is shielded from direct insolation.The idea that ventral color could be related to thermoregulation is shown to be worthy of further research.

Investigation on color variation of Morpho butterfly wings hierarchical structure based on PCA

Morpho butterfly wings show brilliant blue color,which has a close relationship with the hierarchical micro/nano structures on the surface of scales.When liquids such as methanol,ethanol and isopropanol with different refractive indexes drop onto the scales,the reflectance of wings would decrease.The main peaks of reflectance shift to the right and the scales turn to yel-low-green.After the liquids volatilizes completely,the scales revert to the original blue color.The typical micro/nano struc-tures of Morpho butterfly wing scales are modeled,and the reflectance variation in the course of dropping liquids is simulated.Furthermore,the principal component analysis(PCA) method is employed to analyze the experimental and simulation reflec-tance data,extract principal components and reduce dimensions.As a result,the curves mapping the reflectance variation are clearly shown in the coordinate system consisting of three principal components.The typical color variation of scales during the dropping process could be monitored,and different kinds of liquids could be obviously distinguished according to the dis-tributed regions of mapping points.This study provides guidance to environmental media detecting as well as data processing,and enhances the fabrication and application of the mimic Morpho butterfly wings micro/nano structures.

Analysis of variation in temperature-responsive leaf color mutant lines induced from Gamma irradiation in rice(Oryza sativa L.)

Eight lines of temperature-responsive leaf colormutants induced by applying 300 Gy Gamma-ray irradiation to Thermo-sensitive genic malesterile line 2177s,were obtained through con-tinuous selection in seven generations..Theleaves of these lines started to become greenafter the fourth leaf extension,and except