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Angular Precision of Radical Pair Compass Magnetoreceptors
The light-dependent magnetic compass sense of night-migratory songbirds is thought to rely on magnetically sensitive chemical reactions of radical pairs in cryptochrome proteins located in the birds’ eyes. Recently, an information theory approach was developed that provides a strict lower bound on t...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
The Biophysical Society
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7896030/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33421412 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2020.12.023 |
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author | Ren, Yi Hiscock, Hamish G. Hore, P.J. |
author_facet | Ren, Yi Hiscock, Hamish G. Hore, P.J. |
author_sort | Ren, Yi |
collection | PubMed |
description | The light-dependent magnetic compass sense of night-migratory songbirds is thought to rely on magnetically sensitive chemical reactions of radical pairs in cryptochrome proteins located in the birds’ eyes. Recently, an information theory approach was developed that provides a strict lower bound on the precision with which a bird could estimate its head direction using only geomagnetic cues and a cryptochrome-based radical pair sensor. By means of this lower bound, we show here how the performance of the compass sense could be optimized by adjusting the orientation of cryptochrome molecules within photoreceptor cells, the distribution of cells around the retina, and the effects of the geomagnetic field on the photochemistry of the radical pair. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7896030 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | The Biophysical Society |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-78960302022-02-02 Angular Precision of Radical Pair Compass Magnetoreceptors Ren, Yi Hiscock, Hamish G. Hore, P.J. Biophys J Articles The light-dependent magnetic compass sense of night-migratory songbirds is thought to rely on magnetically sensitive chemical reactions of radical pairs in cryptochrome proteins located in the birds’ eyes. Recently, an information theory approach was developed that provides a strict lower bound on the precision with which a bird could estimate its head direction using only geomagnetic cues and a cryptochrome-based radical pair sensor. By means of this lower bound, we show here how the performance of the compass sense could be optimized by adjusting the orientation of cryptochrome molecules within photoreceptor cells, the distribution of cells around the retina, and the effects of the geomagnetic field on the photochemistry of the radical pair. The Biophysical Society 2021-02-02 2021-01-07 /pmc/articles/PMC7896030/ /pubmed/33421412 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2020.12.023 Text en © 2021 Biophysical Society. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Articles Ren, Yi Hiscock, Hamish G. Hore, P.J. Angular Precision of Radical Pair Compass Magnetoreceptors |
title | Angular Precision of Radical Pair Compass Magnetoreceptors |
title_full | Angular Precision of Radical Pair Compass Magnetoreceptors |
title_fullStr | Angular Precision of Radical Pair Compass Magnetoreceptors |
title_full_unstemmed | Angular Precision of Radical Pair Compass Magnetoreceptors |
title_short | Angular Precision of Radical Pair Compass Magnetoreceptors |
title_sort | angular precision of radical pair compass magnetoreceptors |
topic | Articles |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7896030/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33421412 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2020.12.023 |
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