Alternative radical pairs for cryptochrome-based magnetoreception.

ABSTRACT: There is growing evidence that the remarkable ability of animals, in particular birds, to sense the direction of the Earth's magnetic field relies on magnetically sensitive photochemical reactions of the protein cryptochrome. It is generally assumed that the magnetic field acts on the radical pair [FAD•- TrpH•+] formed by the transfer of an electron from a group of three tryptophan residues to the photo-excited flavin adenine dinucleotide cofactor within the protein. Here, we examine the suitability of an [FAD•- Z•] radical pair as a compass magnetoreceptor, where Z• is a radical in which the electron spin has no hyperfine interactions with magnetic nuclei, such as hydrogen and nitrogen. Quantum spin dynamics simulations of the reactivity of [FAD•- Z•] show that it is two orders of magnitu

SUBMITTER: Lee AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4006233 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature