A radical sense of direction: signalling and mechanism in cryptochrome magnetoreception.
The remarkable phenomenon of magnetoreception in migratory birds and other organisms has fascinated biologists for decades. Much evidence has accumulated to suggest that birds sense the magnetic field of the Earth using photochemical transformations in cryptochrome flavoproteins. In the last 5 years this highly interdisciplinary field has seen advances in structural biology, biophysics, spin chemistry, and genetic studies in model organisms. We review these developments and consider how this chemical signal can be integrated into the cellular response.
['Dodson|Charlotte A|CA|', 'Hore|P J|PJ|', 'Wallace|Mark I|MI|']
D000818:Animals D056931:Cryptochromes D004255:Deoxyribodipyrimidine Photo-Lyase D004330:Drosophila D060526:Magnetic Fields D013028:Space Perception
cryptochrome magnetoreception photolyase radical pair hypothesis