Anisotropic recombination of an immobilized photoinduced radical pair in a 50-μT magnetic field: a model avian photomagnetoreceptor

Cintolesi, F.; Ritz, Thorsten; Kay, Christopher W. M.; Timmel, Christiane R.; Hore, P. J.

doi:10.1016/s0301-0104(03)00320-3

Cited by 138 publications

(195 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…This suggestion has been confirmed by numerical simulations (2,33,(43)(44)(45). Anisotropic magnetic field effects arising from hyperfine interactions have recently been observed experimentally (14).…”

supporting

confidence: 55%

“…The relative orientation of the radicals within the pair may also be important; simulations indicate that alignment of anisotropic hyperfine interactions could be a factor in optimizing the magnitude and shape of the reactionyield anisotropy (43,66). The experimental evidence that the effects of weak magnetic fields are quenched by strong interradical interactions is reviewed briefly in the SI Appendix.…”

Section: (60)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of quantitative theoretical studies, most of which have been mentioned above, have tested selected aspects of the radical pair mechanism (2,33,43,44,57,58,66,80). However, for the most part, disorder, motion and spin relaxation have all been ignored.…”

Section: Evidence For Radical Pair Magnetoreceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerical simulations generally support the idea of a radical-pair-based compass and have shed some light on the conditions required for significant reaction yield anisotropies. In favorable cases, the orientational dependence is usually no more than a Ϸ50% variation in the reaction yield (43,44,58). Under more realistic conditions, changes of 1-10% seem more likely.…”

Section: Evidence For Radical Pair Magnetoreceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is no clear picture of what would constitute the optimum sensory input for the bird; however, it seems reasonable to suppose that strongly anisotropic but relatively simple directional information would be favored. Simulations and experiments on solutionphase reactions suggest a few simple design features discussed in the section on cryptochromes (43,58,59).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chemical magnetoreception in birds: The radical pair mechanism

Rodgers

Hore²

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

476

449

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Migratory birds travel vast distances each year, finding their way by various means, including a remarkable ability to perceive the Earth's magnetic field. Although it has been known for 40 years that birds possess a magnetic compass, avian magnetoreception is poorly understood at all levels from the primary biophysical detection events, signal transduction pathways and neurophysiology, to the processing of information in the brain. It has been proposed that the primary detector is a specialized ocular photoreceptor that plays host to magnetically sensitive photochemical reactions having radical pairs as fleeting intermediates. Here, we present a physical chemist's perspective on the ''radical pair mechanism'' of compass magnetoreception in birds. We outline the essential chemical requirements for detecting the direction of an Earth-strength Ϸ50 T magnetic field and comment on the likelihood that these might be satisfied in a biologically plausible receptor. Our survey concludes with a discussion of cryptochrome, the photoactive protein that has been put forward as the magnetoreceptor molecule.

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supporting

confidence: 55%

Section: (60)mentioning

confidence: 99%