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Navigating at night: fundamental limits on the sensitivity of radical pair magnetoreception under dim light

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2019

H. G. Hiscock ,
T. W. Hiscock ,
D. R. Kattnig ,
T. Scrivener ,
A. M. Lewis ,
D. E. Manolopoulos  and
P. J. Hore
H. G. Hiscock
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford OX1 3QZ, UK
T. W. Hiscock
Affiliation:
Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
D. R. Kattnig
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford OX1 3QZ, UK
T. Scrivener
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford OX1 3QZ, UK
A. M. Lewis
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford OX1 3QZ, UK
D. E. Manolopoulos
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford OX1 3QZ, UK
P. J. Hore*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford OX1 3QZ, UK
*
Author for correspondence: P. J. Hore, Email: peter.hore@chem.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

Night-migratory songbirds appear to sense the direction of the Earth's magnetic field via radical pair intermediates formed photochemically in cryptochrome flavoproteins contained in photoreceptor cells in their retinas. It is an open question whether this light-dependent mechanism could be sufficiently sensitive given the low-light levels experienced by nocturnal migrants. The scarcity of available photons results in significant uncertainty in the signal generated by the magnetoreceptors distributed around the retina. Here we use results from Information Theory to obtain a lower bound estimate of the precision with which a bird could orient itself using only geomagnetic cues. Our approach bypasses the current lack of knowledge about magnetic signal transduction and processing in vivo by computing the best-case compass precision under conditions where photons are in short supply. We use this method to assess the performance of three plausible cryptochrome-derived flavin-containing radical pairs as potential magnetoreceptors.

Keywords

Cryptochromeinformation theorylight-dependent magnetoreceptionnight-migratory songbirdsradical pair mechanismspin dynamics
Type
Report
Information
Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics , Volume 52 , 2019 , e9
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019. 

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Footnotes

*

Present address: Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

†

Permanent address: Living Systems Institute and Department of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK.

‡

Present address: Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, 5735 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

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