Luminophores in the fur of seven Australian Wet Tropics mammals

TL;DR

This study identifies specific chemical compounds in the fur of Australian mammals that cause them to glow under light.

Contribution

The first chemical analysis of fur photoluminescence in Australasian mammals in over 50 years.

Findings

At least two classes of luminophores were found in bandicoot fur.

Four molecules matched porphyrin isomers like protoporphyrin and uroporphyrin.

Protoporphyrin was detected in species regardless of visible photoluminescence.

Abstract

Bright photoluminescence in the fur of mammals has recently raised considerable scientific interest. The fur of many mammal species, including Australian northern long-nosed (Perameles pallescens) and northern brown (Isoodon macrourus) bandicoots, photoluminesces strongly, displaying pink, yellow, blue and/or white colours. We used reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry to investigate the luminophores contributing to this photoluminescence. At least two classes of luminophore were observed in bandicoot fur extracts, and four of the orange-pink photoluminescent molecules had molecular masses consistent with protoporphyrin, coproporphyrin, uroporphyrin and heptacarboxylporphyrin isomers. Fur extracts of three other species of marsupial, a placental and a monotreme also contained a luminophore consistent with the molecular mass of protoporphyrin, whether or not pink photoluminescence was evident in the pelage as a whole. This study is the first chemical analysis of luminophores contributing to photoluminescence in the fur of Australasian mammals since two tryptophan metabolites were identified more than 50 years ago.

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