Thermal Biology: Melanin-Based Energy Harvesting across the Tree of Life

Stefan Pinkert; Dirk Zeuss

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.026

Thermal Biology: Melanin-Based Energy Harvesting across the Tree of Life

Curr Biol. 2018 Aug 20;28(16):R887-R889. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.026.

Authors

Stefan Pinkert¹, Dirk Zeuss²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ecology - Animal Ecology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany; Department of Biodiversity and Species Conservation, University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, 99085 Erfurt, Germany. Electronic address: stefanpinkert@posteo.de.
² Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.

PMID: 30130512
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.026

Abstract

Recent results on the thermal biology of unicellular fungi provide evidence that pigmentation is an ancient adaptation for harvesting solar radiation. A new model system promises novel opportunities for quantifying radiative heat transfer and improving biophysical models.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Hot Temperature*
Melanins*
Models, Biological
Pigmentation
Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Substances

Melanins