棲息于澳大利亞的鳥類是所有企鵝中最小的一種,，其身高只有約30公分,，它的羽毛因發(fā)生突變而泛著靚麗的淡藍(lán)色，而它的常用名也由此而來：小藍(lán)企鵝,。
利用高能顯微鏡,，研究人員如今發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些小藍(lán)企鵝翅膀羽毛中的納米級纖維為它們帶來了不同尋常的藍(lán)色,。
與構(gòu)成人類發(fā)絲的物質(zhì)類似,，這些納米纖維由角蛋白組成，它們捆綁在一起,，就像一束束未曾煮過的意大利細(xì)面條,。
美國俄亥俄州阿克隆大學(xué)的生物學(xué)家Liliana D’Alba和同事在最近的《生物學(xué)快報》網(wǎng)絡(luò)版上報告了這一研究成果。
小藍(lán)企鵝的顏色源自太陽光中的藍(lán)光照射到納米纖維時對光線的散射,，而此時所有其他波長的光線則都順利地通過了羽毛,。
研究人員指出，這是賦予羽毛以藍(lán)色的一種新的機制,。
生物學(xué)家之前在其他鳥類的藍(lán)色羽毛中也曾發(fā)現(xiàn)過類似的納米纖維,，例如產(chǎn)于澳大利亞的鴯鹋，但后者的纖維是由膠原蛋白構(gòu)成的,。
如此華美的羽毛給小藍(lán)企鵝帶來了何種優(yōu)勢尚不得而知,，但它們肯定與自己大多數(shù)穿著相同黑白“晚禮服”的親戚們不太一樣。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Biol. Lett. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2010.1163
Colour-producing β-keratin nanofibres in blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) feathers
Liliana D'Alba1, Vinodkumar Saranathan2,*?, Julia A. Clarke3, Jakob A. Vinther4, Richard O. Prum2 and Matthew D. Shawkey1,*?
The colours of living organisms are produced by the differential absorption of light by pigments (e.g. carotenoids, melanins) and/or by the physical interactions of light with biological nanostructures, referred to as structural colours. Only two fundamental morphologies of non-iridescent nanostructures are known in feathers, and recent work has proposed that they self-assemble by intracellular phase separation processes. Here, we report a new biophotonic nanostructure in the non-iridescent blue feather barbs of blue penguins (Eudyptula minor) composed of parallel β-keratin nanofibres organized into densely packed bundles. Synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering and two-dimensional Fourier analysis of electron micrographs of the barb nanostructure revealed short-range order in the organization of fibres at the appropriate size scale needed to produce the observed colour by coherent scattering. These two-dimensional quasi-ordered penguin nanostructures are convergent with similar arrays of parallel collagen fibres in avian and mammalian skin, but constitute a novel morphology for feathers. The identification of a new class of β-keratin nanostructures adds significantly to the known mechanisms of colour production in birds and suggests additional complexity in their self-assembly.
