Beyond Lux: methods for species and photoreceptor-specific quantification of ambient light for mammals.

BMC Biol

Centre for Biological Timing, Division of Neuroscience, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.

Published: November 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • Light plays a crucial role in regulating the physiology and behavior of mammals, and improper light exposure can lead to health issues due to disrupted circadian rhythms.
  • The study introduces a new method for measuring light using a photoreceptor-specific (α-opic) approach that accounts for variations across different mammalian species and their unique photoreceptor types.
  • Results show that α-opic measurements provide better predictions of physiological responses to light than the traditional lux measurements, potentially enhancing animal welfare, scientific research, agriculture, and energy efficiency.

Article Abstract

Background: Light is a key environmental regulator of physiology and behaviour. Mistimed or insufficient light disrupts circadian rhythms and is associated with impaired health and well-being across mammals. Appropriate lighting is therefore crucial for indoor housed mammals. Light is commonly measured in lux. However, this employs a spectral weighting function for human luminance and is not suitable for 'non-visual' effects of light or use across species. In humans, a photoreceptor-specific (α-opic) metrology system has been proposed as a more appropriate way of measuring light.

Results: Here we establish technology to allow this α-opic measurement approach to be readily extended across mammalian species, accounting for differences in photoreceptor types, photopigment spectral sensitivities, and eye anatomy. We develop a high-throughput method to derive spectral sensitivities for recombinantly expressed mammalian opsins and use it to establish the spectral sensitivity of melanopsin from 13 non-human mammals. We further address the need for simple measurement strategies for species-specific α-opic measures by developing an accessible online toolbox for calculating these units and validating an open hardware multichannel light sensor for 'point and click' measurement. We finally demonstrate that species-specific α-opic measurements are superior to photopic lux as predictors of physiological responses to light in mice and allow ecologically relevant comparisons of photosensitivity between species.

Conclusions: Our study presents methods for measuring light in species-specific α-opic units that are superior to the existing unit of photopic lux and holds the promise of improvements to the health and welfare of animals, scientific research reproducibility, agricultural productivity, and energy usage.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11562817PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12915-024-02038-1DOI Listing

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