Cited by 1,176Electromagnetic Fields and Biological EffectsGeomagnetism and Paleomagnetism StudiesElectron Spin Resonance Studies

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A Model for Photoreceptor-Based Magnetoreception in Birds

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Ritz, Thorsten, Adem, Salih, Schulten, Klaus·2000·Biophysical Journal

DOI 10.1016/s0006-3495(00)76629-xPMC PMC1300674

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Abstract

A large variety of animals has the ability to sense the geomagnetic field and utilize it as a source of directional (compass) information. It is not known by which biophysical mechanism this magnetoreception is achieved. We investigate the possibility that magnetoreception involves radical-pair processes that are governed by anisotropic hyperfine coupling between (unpaired) electron and nuclear spins. We will show theoretically that fields of geomagnetic field strength and weaker can produce significantly different reaction yields for different alignments of the radical pairs with the magnetic field. As a model for a magnetic sensory organ we propose a system of radical pairs being 1) orientationally ordered in a molecular substrate and 2) exhibiting changes in the reaction yields that affect the visual transduction pathway. We evaluate three-dimensional visual modulation patterns that can arise from the influence of the geomagnetic field on radical-pair systems. The variations of these patterns with orientation and field strength can furnish the magnetic compass ability of birds with the same characteristics as observed in behavioral experiments. We propose that the recently discovered photoreceptor cryptochrome is part of the magnetoreception system and suggest further studies to prove or disprove this hypothesis.

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Authors: Ritz, T., Adem, S., & Schulten, K.
Affiliations: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
Corresponding author: Schulten, Klaus
ORCID: Ritz, Thorsten
Schulten, Klaus
Venue: Biophysical Journal
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2000-02
Volume: 78
Issue: 2
Pages: 707-718
ISSN: 0006-3495 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3495(00)76629-x
PMC: PMC1300674
OpenAlex: W2138668594
Cited by: 1,176
References: 62
Citations by year: 2026: 68 · 2025: 63 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 66 · 2022: 62 · 2021: 71 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 58 · 2017: 71 · 2016: 59 · 2015: 46 · 2014: 73 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 42
FWCI: 8.03
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: bronze
doi.org
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (vor, 4914 d)
Locations: Biophysical Journal (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: National Center for Research Resources (P41RR005969)
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
Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Electron Spin Resonance Studies
Keywords: magnetoreception, birds, geomagnetic field, radical pairs, cryptochrome, photoreceptors, hyperfine interaction, magnetic compass, phototransduction, reaction yield
MeSH terms: Animals, Birds, Eye Proteins, Flavoproteins, Homing Behavior, Magnetics, Models, Biological, Visual Perception, Anisotropy, Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate, Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate, Drosophila Proteins, Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled, Cryptochromes

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A Model for Photoreceptor-Based Magnetoreception in Birds

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