Cryptochrome – adaptive evolution and loss of a putative magnetoreceptor in birds

Cryptochrome – adaptive evolution and loss of a putative magnetoreceptor in birds

Birds use the Earth magnetic field for their astonishing orientation tasks during migration. But how can they sense it? Identifying the primary magnetosensor remains a fundamental open question. Cryptochromes (Cry) in the retina of birds have been shown to be magnetically sensitive, specifically Cry4 shows enhanced magnetic sensitivity in migratory songbirds compared to resident species. Here we characterise the evolutionary history of Cry in birds using a phylogenetic framework and identify key sites that likely facilitated the evolution of a highly optimized sensory protein for night time compass orientation. Additionally, we identify losses of Cry4 in night migratory passerines - and thus identified a natural gene knockout study system, the gold standard for testing a proteins functionality in behavioural trials.

This project is part of the SFB 1372 Magnetoreception and Navigation in Vertebrates

Publications

Langebrake C, Manthey G, Frederiksen A, Lugo Ramos JS, Dutheil J, Chetverikova R, Solov’yov I, Mouritsen H, Liedvogel M (2024) Adaptive evolution and loss of a putative magnetoreceptor in passerines. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 20232308. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2308

Liedvogel M, Mouritsen H (2010) Cryptochromes – a potential magnetoreceptor: what do we know and what do we want to know? Journal of the Royal Society Interface 7, S147-S162. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2009.0411.focus

Liedvogel M, Maeda K, Henbest K, Schleicher E, Simon T, Hore PJ, Timmel CR, Mouritsen H (2007) Chemical magnetoreception: bird cryptochrome 1a is excited by blue light and forms long-lived radical-pairs. PLOS ONE 2 (10): e1106. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001106

Mouritsen H, Janssen-Bienhold U, Liedvogel M, Feenders G, Stalleicken J, Dirks P, Weiler R (2004) Cryptochromes and activity markers co-localize in bird retina during magnetic orientation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 101, 14294-14299. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0405968101

Mouritsen H, Feenders G, Liedvogel M, Kropp W (2004) Migratory birds use head scans to detect the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field. Current Biology 14, 1946-1949. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2004.10.025

Popular science

Langebrake C (2024) https://www.laborjournal.de/rubric/journalclub/jc/jc_24_06_01.php (in German only)

Liedvogel M (2017) Magnetsinn bei Tieren. VSAO-Journal 3:38-39

Liedvogel M (2009) The Cryptochrome Controversy. Navigation News Jan/Feb 09, 24-26