Cryptochrome-dependent magnetoreception in a heteropteran insect continues even after 24 h in darkness
Language English Country England, Great Britain Media print-electronic
Document type Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PubMed
34477876
DOI
10.1242/jeb.243000
PII: 272037
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- Keywords
- Behaviour, Cryptochrome, Darkness, Insects, Light, Magnetoreception, Radical-pair,
- MeSH
- Sensation MeSH
- Insecta MeSH
- Cryptochromes * genetics MeSH
- Magnetic Fields * MeSH
- Darkness MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Names of Substances
- Cryptochromes * MeSH
Sensitivity to magnetic fields is dependent on the intensity and color of light in several animal species. The light-dependent magnetoreception working model points to cryptochrome (Cry) as a protein cooperating with its co-factor flavin, which possibly becomes magnetically susceptible upon excitation by light. The type of Cry involved and what pair of magnetosensitive radicals are responsible is still elusive. Therefore, we developed a conditioning assay for the firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus, an insect species that possesses only the mammalian cryptochrome (Cry II). Here, using the engineered Cry II null mutant, we show that: (i) vertebrate-like Cry II is an essential component of the magnetoreception response, and (ii) magnetic conditioning continues even after 25 h in darkness. The light-dependent and dark-persisting magnetoreception based on Cry II may inspire new perspectives in magnetoreception and cryptochrome research.
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences České Budějovice 37005 Czech Republic
Department of Experimental Biology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno 62500 Czech Republic
Department of Physics and Astronomy University of California Irvine Irvine CA 92697 USA
References provided by Crossref.org
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