Toxic wavelength of blue light changes as insects grow

Abstract

Short-wavelength visible light (blue light: 400–500 nm) has lethal effects on various insects, such as fruit flies, mosquitoes, and flour beetles. However, the most toxic wavelengths of blue light might differ across developmental stages. Here, we investigate how the toxicity of blue light changes with the developmental stages of an insect by irradiating Drosophila melanogaster with different wavelengths of blue light. Specifically, the lethal effect on eggs increased at shorter light wavelengths (i.e., toward 405 nm). In contrast, wavelengths from 405 to 466 nm had similar lethal effects on larvae. A wavelength of 466 nm had the strongest lethal effect on pupae; however, mortality declined as pupae grew. A wavelength of 417 nm was the most harmful to adults at low photon flux density, while 466 nm was the most harmful to adults at high photon flux density. These findings suggest that, as the morphology of D. melanogaster changes with growth, the most harmful wavelength also changes. In addition, our results indicated that reactive oxygen species influence the lethal effect of blue light. Our findings show that blue light irradiation could be used as an effective pest control method by adjusting the wavelength to target specific developmental stages.

Effect of Camera Illumination on Flashing Behavior of Pteroptyx malaccae (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

“…The peak wavelength of LED and xenon flashes is in the blue region of visible light (400-480 nm) that could adverse biological effects including human eyes and skin when receiving long exposure [25]. The toxic effects of short wavelength light on many insects are known, i.e., mortality in immature stages of D. melanogaster [26] and strawberry leaf beetle [27]. In case of fireflies, the short wavelength of light caused flash signal alteration mentioned by the researchers [12].…”

White LED Light Exposure Inhibits the Development and Xanthophore Pigmentation of Zebrafish Embryo

“…Shibuya et al . suggested that the growth stage of insects and the wavelength determine the lethal effects of blue light and showed that in D. Melanogaster blue light was lethal to all growth stages 31 . Accordingly, in our study, the most prominent increases were observed in lipid peroxidation and nitric oxide levels and the most significant decrease in SOD activity was observed in the white LED light exposed group.…”

Comparing the performance of mScarlet-I, mRuby3, and mCherry as FRET acceptors for mNeonGreen

“…Being able to detect FRET over larger distances often leads to greater dynamic range and sensitivity. Additionally, cellular toxicity to blue light has been well documented in a variety of systems [18][19][20][21][22], emphasizing the need for better green and red shifted FRET pairs. Historically, Green/Red FRET has been limited by unfavorable fluorescent properties of the red protein [23][24][25][26], but several recently developed monomeric red fluorescent proteins are reported to have improved absorption, brightness, and stability indicating they may act as high quality FRET acceptors for green FPs.…”