Ommochrome (or visual pigment) refers to several biological pigments that occur in the eyes of crustaceans and insects. The eye color is determined by the ommochromes. Ommochromes are also found in the chromatophores of cephalopods, and in spiders.[1]
Ommochromes are metabolites of tryptophan, via kynurenine and 3-hydroxykynurenine. They are responsible for a wide variety of colors, ranging from yellow over red and brown to black. Lighter colors tend to be generated by ommatins, while mixtures of ommatin and ommins are responsible for darker colors.[1][2]
In spiders, ommochromes are usually deposited as pigment granules within the cells of the hypodermis, immediately beneath the cuticle.[1]
A study on various insects showed that ommochromes in their eyes have high antioxidant activity. The ommochromes were found to have the ability to suppress the Maillard reaction.[3]
^ abcOxford, G. S.; Gillespie, R. G. (1998). "Evolution and Ecology of Spider Coloration". Annual Review of Entomology. 43: 619–643. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.43.1.619. PMID 15012400. S2CID 6963733.
^Casas, J. R. M.; Casas, M. (2009). "The multiple disguises of spiders: Web colour and decorations, body colour and movement". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 364 (1516): 471–480. doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0212. PMC 2674075. PMID 18990672.
^Dontsov, A. E.; Yakovleva, M. A.; Ostrovsky, M. A. (2021). "Ommochromes of Insect Compound Eyes: Antiglycation Action". Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology. 51 (6): 837–841. doi:10.1007/s11055-021-01141-y. ISSN 0097-0549. S2CID 254862128.
is determined by the ommochromes. Ommochromes are also found in the chromatophores of cephalopods, and in spiders. Ommochromes are metabolites of tryptophan...
Juchault, E; Katakura, Y. (1997). "Genetic and Biochemical Studies on Ommochrome Genesis in an Albino Strain of a Terrestrial Isopod, Armadillidium vulgare"...
and leg spans up to 250 mm (9.8 in). Only three classes of pigment (ommochromes, bilins and guanine) have been identified in spiders, although other...
the sepia mutant is sepia, a reddish-brown color. In wild-type flies, ommochromes (brown) and drosopterins (red) give the eyes the typical red color. The...
"The functional morphology of color changing in a spider: development of ommochrome pigment granules". Journal of Experimental Biology. 211 (5): 780–789....
change from yellow to white takes longer. The yellow coloring is due to ommochrome pigments being produced. The appearance of white is due to guanine and...
Chrysanthemum segetum. Yellow coloration is likely due to the presence of ommochrome compounds and/or their precursors, such as xanthommatin and 3-hydroxykynurenine...
chemically tested and found to be fossilized melanin, as opposed to ommochromes or pterins (which are ocular pigments used by many invertebrate groups)...
fornicata are the result of biochemical pigments. These bands contain ommochrome pigments that absorb at roughly five-hundred nanometers to selectively...
have not been well-studied, but one common theory is that they may be ommochrome pigments, although no discoveries have been made to prove this. Pseudoceros...
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