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Fiorillo A, Parmagnani AS, Visconti S, Mannino G, Camoni L, Maffei ME. 14-3-3 Proteins and the Plasma Membrane H +-ATPase Are Involved in Maize ( Zea mays) Magnetic Induction. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:2887. [PMID: 37571041 PMCID: PMC10421175 DOI: 10.3390/plants12152887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023]
Abstract
The geomagnetic field (GMF) is a natural component of the biosphere, and, during evolution, all organisms experienced its presence while some evolved the ability to perceive magnetic fields (MF). We studied the response of 14-3-3 proteins and the plasma membrane (PM) proton pump H+-ATPase to reduced GMF values by lowering the GMF intensity to a near-null magnetic field (NNMF). Seedling morphology, H+-ATPase activity and content, 14-3-3 protein content, binding to PM and phosphorylation, gene expression, and ROS quantification were assessed in maize (Zea mays) dark-grown seedlings. Phytohormone and melatonin quantification were also assessed by LG-MS/MS. Our results suggest that the GMF regulates the PM H+-ATPase, and that NNMF conditions alter the proton pump activity by reducing the binding of 14-3-3 proteins. This effect was associated with both a reduction in H2O2 and downregulation of genes coding for enzymes involved in ROS production and scavenging, as well as calcium homeostasis. These early events were followed by the downregulation of IAA synthesis and gene expression and the increase in both cytokinin and ABA, which were associated with a reduction in root growth. The expression of the homolog of the MagR gene, ZmISCA2, paralleled that of CRY1, suggesting a possible role of ISCA in maize magnetic induction. Interestingly, melatonin, a widespread molecule present in many kingdoms, was increased by the GMF reduction, suggesting a still unknown role of this molecule in magnetoreception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Fiorillo
- Department of Biology, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy; (A.F.); (S.V.)
| | - Ambra S. Parmagnani
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Quarello 15/a, 10135 Turin, Italy; (A.S.P.); (G.M.)
| | - Sabina Visconti
- Department of Biology, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy; (A.F.); (S.V.)
| | - Giuseppe Mannino
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Quarello 15/a, 10135 Turin, Italy; (A.S.P.); (G.M.)
| | - Lorenzo Camoni
- Department of Biology, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy; (A.F.); (S.V.)
| | - Massimo E. Maffei
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Quarello 15/a, 10135 Turin, Italy; (A.S.P.); (G.M.)
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Henrique EP, Oliveira MA, Paulo DC, Pereira PDC, Dias C, Siqueira LS, Lima CM, Miranda DDA, Rego PS, Araripe J, Melo MAD, Diniz DG, Morais Magalhães NG, Sherry DF, Picanço Diniz CW, Diniz CG. Contrasting migratory journeys and changes in hippocampal astrocyte morphology in shorebirds. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 54:5687-5704. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2019] [Revised: 04/26/2020] [Accepted: 05/07/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ediely Pereira Henrique
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança Bragança Pará Brazil
| | - Marcus Augusto Oliveira
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal do Pará Belém Pará Brazil
| | - Dario Carvalho Paulo
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal do Pará Belém Pará Brazil
| | - Patrick Douglas Corrêa Pereira
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança Bragança Pará Brazil
| | - Cleyssian Dias
- Curso de Pós‐Graduação em Zoologia Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi Universidade Federal do Pará Belém Pará Brazil
| | - Lucas Silva Siqueira
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança Bragança Pará Brazil
| | - Camila Mendes Lima
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal do Pará Belém Pará Brazil
| | - Diego de Almeida Miranda
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança Bragança Pará Brazil
| | - Péricles Sena Rego
- Instituto de Estudos Costeiros Universidade Federal do Pará Bragança Pará Brazil
| | - Juliana Araripe
- Instituto de Estudos Costeiros Universidade Federal do Pará Bragança Pará Brazil
| | - Mauro André Damasceno Melo
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança Bragança Pará Brazil
| | - Daniel Guerreiro Diniz
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal do Pará Belém Pará Brazil
- Instituto Evandro Chagas Laboratório de Miscroscopia Eletrônica Belém Pará Brazil
| | - Nara Gyzely Morais Magalhães
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança Bragança Pará Brazil
| | - David Francis Sherry
- Department of Psychology Advanced Facility for Avian Research University of Western Ontario London ON Canada
| | - Cristovam Wanderley Picanço Diniz
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal do Pará Belém Pará Brazil
| | - Cristovam Guerreiro Diniz
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança Bragança Pará Brazil
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Mendes de Lima C, Douglas Corrêa Pereira P, Pereira Henrique E, Augusto de Oliveira M, Carvalho Paulo D, Silva de Siqueira L, Guerreiro Diniz D, Almeida Miranda D, André Damasceno de Melo M, Gyzely de Morais Magalhães N, Francis Sherry D, Wanderley Picanço Diniz C, Guerreiro Diniz C. Differential Change in Hippocampal Radial Astrocytes and Neurogenesis in Shorebirds With Contrasting Migratory Routes. Front Neuroanat 2019; 13:82. [PMID: 31680881 PMCID: PMC6798042 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2019.00082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2019] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Little is known about environmental influences on radial glia-like (RGL) α cells (radial astrocytes) and their relation to neurogenesis. Because radial glia is involved in adult neurogenesis and astrogenesis, we investigated this association in two migratory shorebird species that complete their autumnal migration using contrasting strategies. Before their flights to South America, the birds stop over at the Bay of Fundy in Canada. From there, the semipalmated sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) crosses the Atlantic Ocean in a non-stop 5-day flight, whereas the semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) flies primarily overland with stopovers for rest and feeding. From the hierarchical cluster analysis of multimodal morphometric features, followed by the discriminant analysis, the radial astrocytes were classified into two main morphotypes, Type I and Type II. After migration, we detected differential changes in the morphology of these cells that were more intense in Type I than in Type II in both species. We also compared the number of doublecortin (DCX)-immunolabeled neurons with morphometric features of radial glial-like α cells in the hippocampal V region between C. pusilla and C. semipalmatus before and after autumn migration. Compared to migrating birds, the convex hull surface area of radial astrocytes increased significantly in wintering individuals in both C. semipalmatus and C. pusilla. Although to a different extent we found a strong correlation between the increase in the convex hull surface area and the increase in the total number of DCX immunostained neurons in both species. Despite phylogenetic differences, it is of interest to note that the increased morphological complexity of radial astrocytes in C. semipalmatus coincides with the fact that during the migratory process over the continent, the visuospatial environment changes more intensely than that associated with migration over Atlantic. The migratory flight of the semipalmated plover, with stopovers for feeding and rest, vs. the non-stop flight of the semipalmated sandpiper may differentially affect radial astrocyte morphology and neurogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila Mendes de Lima
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | - Patrick Douglas Corrêa Pereira
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança, Bragança, Brazil
| | - Ediely Pereira Henrique
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança, Bragança, Brazil
| | - Marcus Augusto de Oliveira
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | - Dario Carvalho Paulo
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | - Lucas Silva de Siqueira
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança, Bragança, Brazil
| | - Daniel Guerreiro Diniz
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil.,Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança, Bragança, Brazil
| | - Diego Almeida Miranda
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança, Bragança, Brazil
| | - Mauro André Damasceno de Melo
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança, Bragança, Brazil
| | - Nara Gyzely de Morais Magalhães
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | - David Francis Sherry
- Advanced Facility for Avian Research, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Cristovam Wanderley Picanço Diniz
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | - Cristovam Guerreiro Diniz
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurodegeneração e Infecção no Hospital Universitário João de Barros Barreto, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil.,Laboratório de Biologia Molecular e Neuroecologia, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará, Campus Bragança, Bragança, Brazil
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4
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Abstract
Birds can use two kinds of information from the geomagnetic field for navigation: the direction of the field lines as a compass and probably magnetic intensity as a component of the navigational ‘map’. The direction of the magnetic field appears to be sensed via radical pair processes in the eyes, with the crucial radical pairs formed by cryptochrome. It is transmitted by the optic nerve to the brain, where parts of the visual system seem to process the respective information. Magnetic intensity appears to be perceived by magnetite-based receptors in the beak region; the information is transmitted by the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve to the trigeminal ganglion and the trigeminal brainstem nuclei. Yet in spite of considerable progress in recent years, many details are still unclear, among them details of the radical pair processes and their transformation into a nervous signal, the precise location of the magnetite-based receptors and the centres in the brain where magnetic information is combined with other navigational information for the navigational processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roswitha Wiltschko
- FB Biowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Wiltschko
- FB Biowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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5
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Nießner C, Denzau S, Peichl L, Wiltschko W, Wiltschko R. Magnetoreception: activation of avian cryptochrome 1a in various light conditions. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2018; 204:977-984. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-018-1296-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2018] [Revised: 07/26/2018] [Accepted: 09/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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6
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Engels S, Treiber CD, Salzer MC, Michalik A, Ushakova L, Keays DA, Mouritsen H, Heyers D. Lidocaine is a nocebo treatment for trigeminally mediated magnetic orientation in birds. J R Soc Interface 2018; 15:20180124. [PMID: 30089685 PMCID: PMC6127160 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2018.0124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2018] [Accepted: 07/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Even though previously described iron-containing structures in the upper beak of pigeons were almost certainly macrophages, not magnetosensitive neurons, behavioural and neurobiological evidence still supports the involvement of the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve (V1) in magnetoreception. In previous behavioural studies, inactivation of putative V1-associated magnetoreceptors involved either application of the surface anaesthetic lidocaine to the upper beak or sectioning of V1. Here, we compared the effects of lidocaine treatment, V1 ablations and sham ablations on magnetic field-driven neuronal activation in V1-recipient brain regions in European robins. V1 sectioning led to significantly fewer Egr-1-expressing neurons in the trigeminal brainstem than in the sham-ablated birds, whereas lidocaine treatment had no effect on neuronal activation. Furthermore, Prussian blue staining showed that nearly all iron-containing cells in the subepidermal layer of the upper beak are nucleated and are thus not part of the trigeminal nerve, and iron-containing cells appeared in highly variable numbers at inconsistent locations between individual robins and showed no systematic colocalization with a neuronal marker. Our data suggest that lidocaine treatment has been a nocebo to the birds and a placebo for the experimenters. Currently, the nature and location of any V1-associated magnetosensor remains elusive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Svenja Engels
- AG Neurosensorics, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | | | | | - Andreas Michalik
- AG Neurosensorics, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | | | | | - Henrik Mouritsen
- AG Neurosensorics, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Dominik Heyers
- AG Neurosensorics, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
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7
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Liu G, Peng X, Ren Z, Liu M, Dang R, Chen Y, Liu F. The effect of artificial light with different SPDs and intensities on the sleep onset of silvereyes. BIOL RHYTHM RES 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/09291016.2018.1498201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gang Liu
- School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xiaotong Peng
- School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Zhuofei Ren
- School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Miao Liu
- School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Rui Dang
- School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Yuqi Chen
- School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Fangbo Liu
- School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
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8
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Hippocampal neurogenesis and volume in migrating and wintering semipalmated sandpipers (Calidris pusilla). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0179134. [PMID: 28591201 PMCID: PMC5462419 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2017] [Accepted: 05/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Long distance migratory birds find their way by sensing and integrating information from a large number of cues in their environment. These cues are essential to navigate over thousands of kilometers and reach the same breeding, stopover, and wintering sites every year. The semipalmated sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) is a long-distance migrant that breeds in the arctic tundra of Canada and Alaska and winters on the northeast coast of South America. Its fall migration includes a 5,300-kilometer nonstop flight over the Atlantic Ocean. The avian hippocampus has been proposed to play a central role in the integration of multisensory spatial information for navigation. Hippocampal neurogenesis may contribute to hippocampal function and a variety of factors including cognitive activity, exercise, enrichment, diet and stress influence neurogenesis in the hippocampus. We quantified hippocampal neurogenesis and volume in adult migrating and wintering semipalmated sandpipers using stereological counts of doublecortin (DCX) immunolabeled immature neurons. We found that birds captured in the coastal region of Bragança, Brazil during the wintering period had more DCX positive neurons and larger volume in the hippocampus than individuals captured in the Bay of Fundy, Canada during fall migration. We also estimate the number of NeuN immunolabeled cells in migrating and wintering birds and found no significant differences between them. These findings suggest that, at this time window, neurogenesis just replaced neurons that might be lost during the transatlantic flight. Our findings also show that in active fall migrating birds, a lower level of adult hippocampal neurogenesis is associated with a smaller hippocampal formation. High levels of adult hippocampal neurogenesis and a larger hippocampal formation found in wintering birds may be late occurring effects of long distance migratory flight or the result of conditions the birds experienced while wintering.
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9
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Nießner C, Gross JC, Denzau S, Peichl L, Fleissner G, Wiltschko W, Wiltschko R. Seasonally Changing Cryptochrome 1b Expression in the Retinal Ganglion Cells of a Migrating Passerine Bird. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0150377. [PMID: 26953690 PMCID: PMC4783048 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2015] [Accepted: 02/12/2016] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Cryptochromes, blue-light absorbing proteins involved in the circadian clock, have been proposed to be the receptor molecules of the avian magnetic compass. In birds, several cryptochromes occur: Cryptochrome 2, Cryptochrome 4 and two splice products of Cryptochrome 1, Cry1a and Cry1b. With an antibody not distinguishing between the two splice products, Cryptochrome 1 had been detected in the retinal ganglion cells of garden warblers during migration. A recent study located Cry1a in the outer segments of UV/V-cones in the retina of domestic chickens and European robins, another migratory species. Here we report the presence of cryptochrome 1b (eCry1b) in retinal ganglion cells and displaced ganglion cells of European Robins, Erithacus rubecula. Immuno-histochemistry at the light microscopic and electron microscopic level showed eCry1b in the cell plasma, free in the cytosol as well as bound to membranes. This is supported by immuno-blotting. However, this applies only to robins in the migratory state. After the end of the migratory phase, the amount of eCry1b was markedly reduced and hardly detectable. In robins, the amount of eCry1b in the retinal ganglion cells varies with season: it appears to be strongly expressed only during the migratory period when the birds show nocturnal migratory restlessness. Since the avian magnetic compass does not seem to be restricted to the migratory phase, this seasonal variation makes a role of eCry1b in magnetoreception rather unlikely. Rather, it could be involved in physiological processes controlling migratory restlessness and thus enabling birds to perform their nocturnal flights.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Nießner
- Fachbereich Biowissenschaften der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Julia Christina Gross
- Fachbereich Biowissenschaften der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Haematology and Oncology and Developmental Biochemistry, University Medicine Göttingen, Justus-von-Liebig Weg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Susanne Denzau
- Fachbereich Biowissenschaften der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Leo Peichl
- Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Max-von-Laue-Str. 4, D-60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Gerta Fleissner
- Fachbereich Biowissenschaften der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Wiltschko
- Fachbereich Biowissenschaften der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Roswitha Wiltschko
- Fachbereich Biowissenschaften der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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10
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Hong G, Pachter R. Photoactivation of cryptochromes from Drosophila melanogaster and Sylvia borin: insight into the chemical compass mechanism by computational investigation. J Phys Chem B 2015; 119:3883-92. [PMID: 25710635 DOI: 10.1021/jp508871h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Although behavioral studies demonstrated light-induced magnetoreception in the insect Drosophila melanogaster, gaining insight into the possibility that a radical-pair mechanism accounts for the magnetic response of the cryptochrome (DmCry1) is complicated by a number of factors. In addition, the mechanism of magnetoreception for the cryptochrome from the garden warbler bird Sylvia borin (gwCry1a), which demonstrated a long-lived radical pair by transient optical absorption measurements, has also not been rationalized. To assess potential feasibility of a radical-pair mechanism in DmCry1 and gwCry1a, formed by excitation and electron transfer between a Trp-triad and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), further separated by electron transfer within the triad, we applied a combination of theoretical methods, including homology modeling and molecular dynamics (MD) for structure refinement, high-level ab initio theory, and MD simulations using a polarizable force-field for prediction of pKa and the electron transfer rate. Calculated excitation energies, followed by electron transfer in model compounds of DmCry1 that assume proton transfer in conjunction with electron transfer from Trp (W420) to FAD and the predicted pKa for the proximate residue to FAD (Cys416), support a radical-pair mechanism. Furthermore, free-energy and reorganization energies for the Trp-triad in DmCry1 demonstrate facile electron transfer, explained by the local protein environment and exposure to solvent, which in turn enables a large enough distance separation for the radical-pair partners. Results for gwCry1a demonstrated the importance of accounting for relaxed excited-state geometries in validating the first stage of a radical-pair mechanism. This work provides insight into the so-called chemical compass mechanism to explain magnetic-field sensing in DmCry1 and gwCry1a, expanding on previous work on the cyrptochrome from the plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Solov'yov et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 18046-18052. Solov'yov et al., Sci. Rep. 2014, 4, 1-8.).
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Affiliation(s)
- Gongyi Hong
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base , AFRL/RX, 3005 Hobson Way, Dayton, Ohio 45433, United States
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11
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Ramírez E, Marín G, Mpodozis J, Letelier JC. Extracellular recordings reveal absence of magneto sensitive units in the avian optic tectum. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2014; 200:983-96. [PMID: 25281335 PMCID: PMC4237910 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-014-0947-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2014] [Revised: 09/13/2014] [Accepted: 09/15/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
There is a consensus that birds detect the earth's magnetic field and use some of its features for orientation and homing purposes. Since the late 1960s, when the first solid behavioral evidence of magnetoreception was obtained, much research has been devoted to describing the ethological aspects of this behavior. The neurophysiological basis of magnetoreception has been much less studied, although a frequently cited 1986 report described a high prevalence (70 %) of magneto-sensitive neurons in the pigeon optic tectum with high signal-to-noise ratios (Semm and Demaine, J Comp Physiol A 159:619-625, 1986). Here, we repeated these neurophysiological experiments using anesthetized as well as awake pigeons and new recording techniques. Our data indicate that magneto-sensitive units do not exist in the avian tectum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgardo Ramírez
- Department of Biology, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile,
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12
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Wiltschko R, Wiltschko W. Sensing magnetic directions in birds: radical pair processes involving cryptochrome. BIOSENSORS-BASEL 2014; 4:221-42. [PMID: 25587420 PMCID: PMC4264356 DOI: 10.3390/bios4030221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2014] [Revised: 07/14/2014] [Accepted: 07/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Birds can use the geomagnetic field for compass orientation. Behavioral experiments, mostly with migrating passerines, revealed three characteristics of the avian magnetic compass: (1) it works spontaneously only in a narrow functional window around the intensity of the ambient magnetic field, but can adapt to other intensities, (2) it is an “inclination compass”, not based on the polarity of the magnetic field, but the axial course of the field lines, and (3) it requires short-wavelength light from UV to 565 nm Green. The Radical Pair-Model of magnetoreception can explain these properties by proposing spin-chemical processes in photopigments as underlying mechanism. Applying radio frequency fields, a diagnostic tool for radical pair processes, supports an involvement of a radical pair mechanism in avian magnetoreception: added to the geomagnetic field, they disrupted orientation, presumably by interfering with the receptive processes. Cryptochromes have been suggested as receptor molecules. Cry1a is found in the eyes of birds, where it is located at the membranes of the disks in the outer segments of the UV-cones in chickens and robins. Immuno-histochemical studies show that it is activated by the wavelengths of light that allow magnetic compass orientation in birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roswitha Wiltschko
- Fachbereich Biowissenschaften, J.W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max von Laue Straße 13, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; E-Mail:
| | - Wolfgang Wiltschko
- Fachbereich Biowissenschaften, J.W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max von Laue Straße 13, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; E-Mail:
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Wiltschko R, Munro U, Ford H, Stapput K, Thalau P, Wiltschko W. Orientation of migratory birds under ultraviolet light. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2014; 200:399-407. [PMID: 24718656 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-014-0898-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2013] [Revised: 03/05/2014] [Accepted: 03/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In view of the finding that cryptochrome 1a, the putative receptor molecule for the avian magnetic compass, is restricted to the ultraviolet single cones in European Robins, we studied the orientation behaviour of robins and Australian Silvereyes under monochromatic ultraviolet (UV) light. At low intensity UV light of 0.3 mW/m(2), birds showed normal migratory orientation by their inclination compass, with the directional information originating in radical pair processes in the eye. At 2.8 mW/m(2), robins showed an axial preference in the east-west axis, whereas silvereyes preferred an easterly direction. At 5.7 mW/m(2), robins changed direction to a north-south axis. When UV light was combined with yellow light, robins showed easterly 'fixed direction' responses, which changed to disorientation when their upper beak was locally anaesthetised with xylocaine, indicating that they were controlled by the magnetite-based receptors in the beak. Orientation under UV light thus appears to be similar to that observed under blue, turquoise and green light, albeit the UV responses occur at lower light levels, probably because of the greater light sensitivity of the UV cones. The orientation under UV light and green light suggests that at least at the level of the retina, magnetoreception and vision are largely independent of each other.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roswitha Wiltschko
- Fachbereich Biowissenschaften der, J.W.Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max von Laue Straße 13, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany,
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Winklhofer M, Dylda E, Thalau P, Wiltschko W, Wiltschko R. Avian magnetic compass can be tuned to anomalously low magnetic intensities. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20130853. [PMID: 23720547 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The avian magnetic compass works in a fairly narrow functional window around the intensity of the local geomagnetic field, but adjusts to intensities outside this range when birds experience these new intensities for a certain time. In the past, the geomagnetic field has often been much weaker than at present. To find out whether birds can obtain directional information from a weak magnetic field, we studied spontaneous orientation preferences of migratory robins in a 4 µT field (i.e. a field of less than 10 per cent of the local intensity of 47 µT). Birds can adjust to this low intensity: they turned out to be disoriented under 4 µT after a pre-exposure time of 8 h to 4 µT, but were able to orient in this field after a total exposure time of 17 h. This demonstrates a considerable plasticity of the avian magnetic compass. Orientation in the 4 µT field was not affected by local anaesthesia of the upper beak, but was disrupted by a radiofrequency magnetic field of 1.315 MHz, 480 nT, suggesting that a radical-pair mechanism still provides the directional information in the low magnetic field. This is in agreement with the idea that the avian magnetic compass may have developed already in the Mesozoic in the common ancestor of modern birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Winklhofer
- Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Ludwig-Maximillians-Universität München, Theresienstrasse 41/IV, D-80333 Munich, Germany
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O'Neill P. Magnetoreception and baroreception in birds. Dev Growth Differ 2012; 55:188-97. [DOI: 10.1111/dgd.12025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2012] [Revised: 11/01/2012] [Accepted: 11/01/2012] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Paul O'Neill
- Laboratory for Sensory Development; RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology; 2-2-3 Minatojima-Minamimachi, Chuo-ku; Kobe; 650-0047; Japan
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Wiltschko R, Wiltschko W. The magnetite-based receptors in the beak of birds and their role in avian navigation. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2012; 199:89-98. [PMID: 23111859 PMCID: PMC3552369 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-012-0769-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2012] [Revised: 10/11/2012] [Accepted: 10/12/2012] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Iron-rich structures have been described in the beak of homing pigeons, chickens and several species of migratory birds and interpreted as magnetoreceptors. Here, we will briefly review findings associated with these receptors that throw light on their nature, their function and their role in avian navigation. Electrophysiological recordings from the ophthalmic nerve, behavioral studies and a ZENK-study indicate that the trigeminal system, the nerves innervating the beak, mediate information on magnetic changes, with the electrophysiological study suggesting that these are changes in intensity. Behavioral studies support the involvement of magnetite and the trigeminal system in magnetoreception, but clearly show that the inclination compass normally used by birds represents a separate system. However, if this compass is disrupted by certain light conditions, migrating birds show 'fixed direction' responses to the magnetic field, which originate in the receptors in the beak. Together, these findings point out that there are magnetite-based magnetoreceptors located in the upper beak close to the skin. Their natural function appears to be recording magnetic intensity and thus providing one component of the multi-factorial 'navigational map' of birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Wiltschko
- FB Biowissenschaften, J.W.Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Siesmayerstraße 70, 60054, Frankfurt a.M, Germany
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