Molecular diversity, metabolic transformation, and evolution of carotenoid feather pigments in cotingas (Aves: Cotingidae)
- R. Prum, Amy M. Lafountain, J. Berro, M. Stoddard, H. Frank
- BiologyJournal of Comparative Physiology □ B
- 6 June 2012
The color space analyses document that the evolutionarily derived metabolic modifications of dietary xanthophylls have resulted in the creation of distinctive orange-red and purple visual colors.
The xanthophyll cycle and NPQ in diverse desert and aquatic green algae
- C. Lunch, Amy M. Lafountain, Suzanne M. Thomas, H. Frank, L. Lewis, Z. Cardon
- Biology, Environmental SciencePhotosynthesis Research
- 2 June 2013
Using aquatic and desert-derived species from three classes of green algae, the induction of photoprotection under high light was examined, exploring the relationship between nonphotochemical quenching and the xanthophyll cycle and indicating that zeaxanthin can contribute to photoprotsection as in seed plants but to different extents depending on taxon or lineage.
Repressors of anthocyanin biosynthesis.
- Amy M. Lafountain, Yao-wu Yuan
- BiologyNew Phytologist
- 17 April 2021
This review surveys recent progress in the identification of anthocyanin repressors and the characterization of their molecular mechanisms and finds that these seemingly very different repression modules act through a remarkably similar logic, the so-called "double negative logic".
Ultrafast time-resolved carotenoid to-bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer in LH2 complexes from photosynthetic bacteria.
- Hong Cong, D. Niedzwiedzki, H. Frank
- ChemistryJournal of Physical Chemistry B
- 31 July 2008
This work resolves a long-standing question regarding the cause of the precipitous drop in energy transfer efficiency when the extent of pi-electron conjugation of the carotenoid is extended from ten to eleven conjugated carbon-carbon double bonds in LH2 complexes from purple photosynthetic bacteria.
Diversity, physiology, and evolution of avian plumage carotenoids and the role of carotenoid-protein interactions in plumage color appearance.
- Amy M. Lafountain, R. Prum, H. Frank
- ChemistryArchives of Biochemistry and Biophysics
- 15 April 2015
Carotenoids from the crimson and maroon plumages of Old World orioles (Oriolidae).
- Amy M. Lafountain, H. Frank, R. Prum
- BiologyArchives of Biochemistry and Biophysics
- 15 November 2013
Mechanism of carotenoid coloration in the brightly colored plumages of broadbills (Eurylaimidae)
- R. Prum, Amy M. Lafountain, Christopher J. Berg, M. Tauber, H. Frank
- ChemistryJournal of Comparative Physiology □ B
- 20 March 2014
Six different carotenoids from nine different plumage patches were identified, including two previously unknown molecules, using high-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and MS/MS fragment analysis, resulting in the identification of six species from five genera of broadbills (Eurylaimidae) that have been examined.
An R2R3-MYB transcription factor regulates carotenoid pigmentation in Mimulus lewisii flowers.
- Janelle M Sagawa, Lauren E. Stanley, Amy M. Lafountain, H. Frank, Chang Liu, Yao-wu Yuan
- Biology, MedicineNew Phytologist
- 1 February 2016
This work has identified an R2R3-MYB, Reduced Carotenoid Pigmentation 1 (RCP1), as the first transcription factor that positively regulates carotenoids biosynthesis during flower development and results in simultaneous decrease of anthocyanin production in some transgenic lines by down-regulating the expression of an activator of anthOCyanin biosynthesis.
The intramolecular charge transfer state in carbonyl-containing polyenes and carotenoids.
- M. M. Enriquez, Marcel Fuciman, Amy M. Lafountain, Nicole L. Wagner, R. Birge, H. Frank
- ChemistryJournal of Physical Chemistry B
- 30 September 2010
Femtosecond time-resolved optical spectroscopic experiments on three substituted polyenes reveal that only the asymmetrically substituted 8,8'-diapocarotene-8'-ol-8-al exhibits any substantial effect of solvent on the excited state spectra and dynamics.
Variation in carotenoid–protein interaction in bird feathers produces novel plumage coloration
- M. M. Mendes-Pinto, Amy M. Lafountain, M. Stoddard, R. Prum, H. Frank, B. Robert
- BiologyJournal of the Royal Society Interface
- 7 December 2012
A spectroscopic investigation of feathers from the brilliant red scarlet ibis, the orange-red summer tanager and the violet-purple feathers of the white-browed purpletuft suggests that head-to-tail molecular alignment (i.e. J-aggregation) of the protein-bound carotenoid molecules is an additional factor for the colour shift.
...
...