Separation of photo-induced radical pair in cryptochrome to a functionally critical distance.

ABSTRACT: Cryptochrome is a blue light receptor that acts as a sensor for the geomagnetic field and assists many animals in long-range navigation. The magnetoreceptor function arises from light-induced formation of a radical pair through electron transfer between a flavin cofactor (FAD) and a triad of tryptophan residues. Here, this electron transfer is investigated by quantum chemical and classical molecular dynamics calculations. The results reveal how sequential electron transfer, assisted by rearrangement of polar side groups in the cryptochrome interior, can yield a FAD-Trp radical pair state with the FAD and Trp partners separated beyond a critical distance. The large radical pair separation reached establishes cryptochrome's sensitivity to the geomagnetic field through weakening of distance-d

SUBMITTER: Solov'yov IA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4894384 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature