Circular spectropolarimetric sensing of higher plant and algal chloroplast structural variations
arXiv:1808.08033 · doi:10.1007/s11120-018-0572-2
Abstract
Photosynthetic eukaryotes show a remarkable variability in photosynthesis, including large differences in light harvesting proteins and pigment composition. In vivo circular spectropolarimetry enables us to probe the molecular architecture of photosynthesis in a non-invasive and non-destructive way and, as such, can offer a wealth of physiological and structural information. In the present study we have measured the circular polarizance of several multicellular green, red and brown algae and higher plants, which show large variations in circular spectropolarimetric signals with differences in both spectral shape and magnitude. Many of the algae display spectral characteristics not previously reported, indicating a larger variation in molecular organization than previously assumed. As the strengths of these signals vary by three orders of magnitude, these results also have important implications in terms of detectability for the use of circular polarization as a signature of life.
arXiv comment25 pages, 9 figures
References in corpus (4)
- Exoplanet Biosignatures: A Review of Remotely Detectable Signs of Life
- Detection of circular polarization in light scattered from photosynthetic microbes
- Imaging linear and circular polarization features in leaves with complete Mueller matrix polarimetry
- Circular spectropolarimetric sensing of chiral photosystems in decaying leaves
Cited by in corpus (4)
- Circular spectropolarimetric sensing of vegetation in the field; possibilities for the remote detection of extraterrestrial life
- Spectropolarimetry of primitive phototrophs as global surface biosignatures
- Directional aspects of vegetation linear and circular polarization biosignatures
- A snapshot full-Stokes spectropolarimeter for detecting life on Earth