Animal cryptochromes mediate magnetoreception by an unconventional photochemical mechanism
Student Authors
Lauren FoleyAcademic Program
NeuroscienceUMass Chan Affiliations
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience ProgramReppert Lab
Neurobiology
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2010-02-11Keywords
Animal MigrationAnimals
Animals, Genetically Modified
Butterflies
Cryptochromes
Drosophila Proteins
Drosophila melanogaster
Eye Proteins
*Magnetics
Orientation
*Photochemical Processes
Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate
Transgenes
Neuroscience and Neurobiology
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Understanding the biophysical basis of animal magnetoreception has been one of the greatest challenges in sensory biology. Recently it was discovered that the light-dependent magnetic sense of Drosophila melanogaster is mediated by the ultraviolet (UV)-A/blue light photoreceptor cryptochrome (Cry). Here we show, using a transgenic approach, that the photoreceptive, Drosophila-like type 1 Cry and the transcriptionally repressive, vertebrate-like type 2 Cry of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) can both function in the magnetoreception system of Drosophila and require UV-A/blue light (wavelength below 420 nm) to do so. The lack of magnetic responses for both Cry types at wavelengths above 420 nm does not fit the widely held view that tryptophan triad-generated radical pairs mediate the ability of Cry to sense a magnetic field. We bolster this assessment by using a mutant form of Drosophila and monarch type 1 Cry and confirm that the tryptophan triad pathway is not crucial in magnetic transduction. Together, these results suggest that animal Crys mediate light-dependent magnetoreception through an unconventional photochemical mechanism. This work emphasizes the utility of Drosophila transgenesis for elucidating the precise mechanisms of Cry-mediated magnetosensitivity in insects and also in vertebrates such as migrating birds.Source
Nature. 2010 Feb 11;463(7282):804-7. Epub 2010 Jan 24. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1038/nature08719Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/37927PubMed ID
20098414Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1038/nature08719