Photoreceptor-based magnetoreception: optimal design of receptor molecules, cells, and neuronal processing.
The sensory basis of magnetoreception in animals still remains a mystery. One hypothesis of magnetoreception is that photochemical radical pair reactions can transduce magnetic information in specialized photoreceptor cells, possibly involving the photoreceptor molecule cryptochrome. This hypothesis triggered a considerable amount of research in the past decade. Here, we present an updated picture of the radical-pair photoreceptor hypothesis. In our review, we will focus on insights that can assist biologists in their search for the elusive magnetoreceptors.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. tritz@uci.edu
Thorsten
T
Ritz
Margaret
M
Ahmad
Henrik
H
Mouritsen
Roswitha
R
Wiltschko
Wolfgang
W
Wiltschko
D000818:Animals; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*