Seeing the (UV) Light

Seeing the rainbow: light sensing in fungi.

Light is essential for photosynthetic organisms, but also serves as an important environmental cue for non-photosynthetic species; thus, light sensing is evolutionarily conserved throughout the kingdoms, from archaea and fungi to humans. Light sensors are chromoproteins, the low-molecular weight compound of which absorbs specific wavelengths and induces a reaction from the protein. In fungi, th...

Photomorphenesis: Seeing the light in plant development

COP1, a protein thought to repress plant photomorphogenesis in the dark, is nuclear in the dark and cytoplasmic in the light. It may lie on the light signal transduction pathway and may be inactivated intracellularly by light.

Seeing elements by visible-light digital camera

A visible-light digital camera is used for taking ordinary photos, but with new operational procedures it can measure the photon energy in the X-ray wavelength region and therefore see chemical elements. This report describes how one can observe X-rays by means of such an ordinary camera - The front cover of the camera is replaced by an opaque X-ray window to block visible light and to allow X-...

Seeing the Light: Insulin Receptors and the CNS

Although insulin clearly affects brain function, the role of insulin receptor (IR) signaling in the establishment and function of circuits in vivo remains largely unknown. In this issue of Neuron, Chiu et al. show a role for IRs in regulating synapse density and dendritic plasticity required for visual responses in Xenopus.

Transillumination of the neonatal skull: seeing the light.