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These pigments enter a high-energy state upon absorbing a photon which they can release in the form of chemical energy. This can occur via light-driven pumping of ions across a biological membrane (e.g. in the case of the proton pump bacteriorhodopsin) or via excitation and transfer of electrons released by photolysis (e.g. in the photosystems ...
Each photoreceptor absorbs light according to its spectral sensitivity (absorptance), which is determined by the photoreceptor proteins expressed in that cell. Humans have three classes of cones (L, M, S) that each differ in spectral sensitivity and 'prefer' photons of different wavelengths (see graph). For example, the peak wavelength of the S ...
Visual phototransduction is the sensory transduction process of the visual system by which light is detected by photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) in the vertebrate retina.A photon is absorbed by a retinal chromophore (each bound to an opsin), which initiates a signal cascade through several intermediate cells, then through the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) comprising the optic nerve.
Photoreceptor proteins typically consist of a protein attached to a non-protein chromophore (sometimes referred as photopigment, even so photopigment may also refer to the photoreceptor as a whole). The chromophore reacts to light via photoisomerization or photoreduction , thus initiating a change of the receptor protein which triggers a signal ...
Each pigment absorbs light more efficiently in a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Chlorophyll a absorbs well in the ranges of 400–450 nm and at 650–700 nm; chlorophyll b at 450–500 nm and at 600–650 nm. Xanthophyll absorbs well at 400–530 nm.
Spectral sensitivity is the relative efficiency of detection, of light or other signal, as a function of the frequency or wavelength of the signal. In visual neuroscience , spectral sensitivity is used to describe the different characteristics of the photopigments in the rod cells and cone cells in the retina of the eye .
Two examples of carotenoids are lycopene and β-carotene. These molecules also absorb light most efficiently in the 400 – 500 nm range. Due to their absorption region, carotenoids appear red and yellow and provide most of the red and yellow colours present in fruits and flowers. The carotenoid molecules also serve a safeguarding function.
The only light source in the deep sea, marine animals give off visible light energy called bioluminescence, [23] a subset of chemiluminescence. This is the chemical reaction in which chemical energy is converted to light energy. It is estimated that 90% of deep-sea animals produce some sort of bioluminescence.