TY  - JOUR
A1  - Nießner, Christine
A1  - Denzau, Susanne
A1  - Stapput, Katrin
A1  - Ahmad, Margaret
A1  - Peichl, Leo
A1  - Wiltschko, Wolfgang
A1  - Wiltschko, Roswitha
T1  - Magnetoreception : activated cryptochrome 1a concurs with magnetic orientation in birds
T2  - Interface : journal of the Royal Society
N2  - The radical pair model proposes that the avian magnetic compass is based on radical pair processes in the eye, with cryptochrome, a flavoprotein, suggested as receptor molecule. Cryptochrome 1a (Cry1a) is localized at the discs of the outer segments of the UV/violet cones of European robins and chickens. Here, we show the activation characteristics of a bird cryptochrome in vivo under natural conditions. We exposed chickens for 30 min to different light regimes and analysed the amount of Cry1a labelled with an antiserum against an epitope at the C-terminus of this protein. The staining after exposure to sunlight and to darkness indicated that the antiserum labels only an illuminated, activated form of Cry1a. Exposure to narrow-bandwidth lights of various wavelengths revealed activated Cry1a at UV, blue and turquoise light. With green and yellow, the amount of activated Cry1a was reduced, and with red, as in the dark, no activated Cry1a was labelled. Activated Cry1a is thus found at all those wavelengths at which birds can orient using their magnetic inclination compass, supporting the role of Cry1a as receptor molecule. The observation that activated Cry1a and well-oriented behaviour occur at 565 nm green light, a wavelength not absorbed by the fully oxidized form of cryptochrome, suggests that a state other than the previously suggested Trp/FAD radical pair formed during photoreduction is crucial for detecting magnetic directions.
KW  - conformational change
KW  - cryptochrome 1a
KW  - flavin cycle
KW  - magnetic compass
KW  - photoreceptor
Y1  - 2013
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/33319
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-333196
SN  - 1742-5689
SN  - 1742-5662
N1  - © 2013 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
VL  - 10
IS  - 20130638
PB  - The Royal Society
CY  - London
ER  -