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...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2021
|
| _version_ | 1826259013066555392 |
|---|---|
| author | Ren, Y Hiscock, HG Hore, PJ |
| author_facet | Ren, Y Hiscock, HG Hore, PJ |
| author_sort | Ren, Y |
| collection | OXFORD |
| 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:43:09Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:0d964677-8b7d-4d47-881e-788de7a5e263 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:43:09Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:0d964677-8b7d-4d47-881e-788de7a5e2632022-03-26T09:41:30ZAngular precision of radical pair compass magnetoreceptorsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:0d964677-8b7d-4d47-881e-788de7a5e263EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2021Ren, YHiscock, HGHore, PJThe 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. |
| spellingShingle | Ren, Y Hiscock, HG Hore, PJ 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 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT reny angularprecisionofradicalpaircompassmagnetoreceptors AT hiscockhg angularprecisionofradicalpaircompassmagnetoreceptors AT horepj angularprecisionofradicalpaircompassmagnetoreceptors |