Definition
“Melanins” is a generic term commonly used to define dark and insoluble pigments found in living organisms, including animals, plants, and microorganisms (fungi and bacteria), arising biosynthetically from the oxidative polymerization of L-tyrosine or other phenolic substrates. A recent classification of melanins includes the black-to-dark brown eumelanins and the reddish-brown sulfur-containing pheomelanins (in animals), neuromelanin (in catecholaminergic regions of the brain), allomelanins (in plants and fungi), and pyomelanin (in bacteria). Melanins display a peculiar set of physicochemical properties that have been implicated as underlying most of their biological roles including photoprotection, camouflage, and virulence, denoting per se a melanin-like pigment.
Overview
The origin of the term “Melanins” (from μελας, black) is attributed to the Swedish chemist Berzelius (1840) with reference to the dark pigment found in eye membranes and was initially used to denote the...
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d’Ischia, M., Manini, P. (2023). Melanins. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65093-6_5456
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65093-6_5456
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