Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Photobleaching Enables Super-resolution Imaging of the FtsZ Ring in the Cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus
Published on: November 6, 2018
Chlorophyll derivatives as visual pigments for super vision in the red
Ilyas Washington1, Jilin Zhou, Steffen Jockusch
1Columbia University, Department of Chemistry, New York, NY 10027, USA. iw2101@columbia.edu
Abstract:
The primary event in vision is light-initiated activation of visual pigments. All visual pigments consist of the protein opsin bound to 11-cis-retinal and are responsible for initiating the transformation of light into an electrical signal. In a mouse model, we show that derivatives of chlorophyll can act as visual pigments initiating the transformation of light into an electrical signal and thus change the primary event in vision to initial activation of a chlorophyll derivative. Electroretinographic b-wave amplitudes recorded in response to red and blue light were two-fold greater in mice administered chlorin e(6), which accumulated in photoreceptor outer segments.
Related Concept Videos
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Color Vision
Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light
Channel Rhodopsins
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
Light as Energy
Photons
A photon is a discrete electromagnetic particle or bundle of energy. Photons are characterized by their frequency, wavelength, and amplitude, similar to the properties of a wave. Waves with higher frequencies transmit more energy and have shorter wavelengths than longer wavelengths that transmit less...
UV–Vis Spectroscopy of Conjugated Systems
One of the factors influencing λmax is the extent of conjugation in the...

