title: Cryptochromes: blue light receptors for plants and animals.
abstract: Cryptochromes are blue, ultraviolet-A photoreceptors. They were first characterized for Arabidopsis and are also found in ferns and algae; they appear to be ubiquitous in the plant kingdom. They are flavoproteins similar in sequence to photolyases, their presumptive evolutionary ancestors. Cryptochromes mediate a variety of light responses, including entrainment of circadian rhythms in Arabidopsis, Drosophila, and mammals. Sequence comparison indicates that the plant and animal cryptochrome families have distinct evolutionary histories, with the plant cryptochromes being of ancient evolutionary origin and the animal cryptochromes having evolved relatively recently. This process of repeated evolution may have coincided with the origin in animals of a modified circadian clock based on the PERIOD, TIMELESS, CLOCK, and CYCLE proteins.
authors.affiliation: Plant Science Institute, Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6018, USA. cashmore@upenn.sas.edu
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Cashmore
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Jarillo
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D056931:Cryptochromes; D004255:Deoxyribodipyrimidine Photo-Lyase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005136:Eye Proteins; D005420:Flavoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D056931:Cryptochromes; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins; D005420:Flavoproteins; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; C119828:cry protein, Drosophila; D004255:Deoxyribodipyrimidine Photo-Lyase