你吃什么就是什么,，至少你會變成與食物相同的顏色。
據(jù)美國《科學(xué)》雜志在線新聞報道,，火烈鳥是紅色的,，那是因為它們吃蝦。即便是人類,，如果吃了太多的胡蘿卜或番茄,，皮膚也會顯現(xiàn)出橙色。造成這一結(jié)果的原因便是色素,，例如類胡蘿卜素,，然而科學(xué)家如今發(fā)現(xiàn)至少有一種動物不需要吃下這些色素便能夠變色。
實際上,，一種名為蚜蟲的小昆蟲(如上圖)在它們的進(jìn)化過程中從一種菌類中獲得了分泌類胡蘿卜素所需的基因,。這使得蚜蟲成為第一種已知能夠產(chǎn)生自己的類胡蘿卜素的動物。研究人員在5月7日出版的《科學(xué)》雜志上報告了這一發(fā)現(xiàn),。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1187113
Lateral Transfer of Genes from Fungi Underlies Carotenoid Production in Aphids
Nancy A. Moran1,* and Tyler Jarvik2
Carotenoids are colored compounds produced by plants, fungi, and microorganisms and are required in the diet of most animals for oxidation control or light detection. Pea aphids display a red-green color polymorphism, which influences their susceptibility to natural enemies, and the carotenoid torulene occurs only in red individuals. Unexpectedly, we found that the aphid genome itself encodes multiple enzymes for carotenoid biosynthesis. Phylogenetic analyses show that these aphid genes are derived from fungal genes, which have been integrated into the genome and duplicated. Red individuals have a 30-kilobase region, encoding a single carotenoid desaturase that is absent from green individuals. A mutation causing an amino acid replacement in this desaturase results in loss of torulene and of red body color. Thus, aphids are animals that make their own carotenoids.
1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 1041 East Lowell Street, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
2 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
