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Retinal cryptochrome in a migratory passerine bird: a possible transducer for the avian magnetic compass
Abstract
The currently discussed model of magnetoreception in birds proposes that the direction of the magnetic field is perceived by radical-pair processes in specialized photoreceptors, with cryptochromes suggested as potential candidate molecules mediating magnetic compass information. Behavioral studies have shown that magnetic compass orientation takes place in the eye and requires light from the blue-green part of the spectrum. Cryptochromes are known to absorb in the same spectral range. Because of this we searched for cryptochrome (CRY) in the retina of European robins, Erithacus rubecula, passerine birds that migrate at night. Here, we report three individually expressed cryptochromes, eCRY1a, eCRY1b, and eCRY2. While eCRY1a and eCRY2 are similar to the cryptochromes found in the retina of the domestic chicken, eCRY1b has a unique carboxy (C)-terminal. In light of the 'radical-pair' model, our findings support a potential role of cryptochromes as transducers for the perception of magnetic compass information in birds.
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“It seems a logical next step to more complex living creatures, especially since four different types of cryptochrome have been confirmed in the eyes of migratory birds [103] and cryptochromes from the migratory garden warbler form radicals with millisecond lifetimes under the influence of the blue spectral range [104].”
From The future of quantum biology (2018) · cites this paper as [103]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Möller, A., Sagasser, S., Wiltschko, W., & Schierwater, B.
- Affiliations
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- Leibniz University Hannover (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Wiltschko, Wolfgang
- Venue
- Naturwissenschaften
- Published
- 2004-11-17
- Volume
- 91
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 585-588
- ISSN
- 0028-1042 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-1904
- OpenAlex
- W2043842271
- Cited by
- 173
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 5.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Die Naturwissenschaften (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Yale University
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Electromagnetic Fields and Biological Effects
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Keywords
- avian magnetoreception, magnetic compass, European robin, Erithacus rubecula, radical pair mechanism, nocturnal migration, photoreceptors, blue-green light
- MeSH terms
- Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Base Sequence, Biological Clocks, Chickens, Flavoproteins, Molecular Sequence Data, Retina, Sequence Alignment, Conserved Sequence, Sequence Homology, Amino Acid, DNA Primers, Songbirds, Cryptochromes
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