A radical sense of direction: signalling and mechanism in cryptochrome magnetoreception
Charlotte A Dodson1, P J Hore, Mark I Wallace
1Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Chemistry Research Laboratory, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TA, UK. charlotte.dodson@chem.ox.ac.uk
Abstract:
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.
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