Cryptochrome 1 mediates light-dependent inclination magnetosensing in monarch butterflies

Guijun Wan (), Ashley N. Hayden, Samantha E. Iiams and Christine Merlin ()
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Guijun Wan: Texas A&M University
Ashley N. Hayden: Texas A&M University
Samantha E. Iiams: Texas A&M University
Christine Merlin: Texas A&M University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Many animals use the Earth’s geomagnetic field for orientation and navigation. Yet, the molecular and cellular underpinnings of the magnetic sense remain largely unknown. A biophysical model proposed that magnetoreception can be achieved through quantum effects of magnetically-sensitive radical pairs formed by the photoexcitation of cryptochrome (CRY) proteins. Studies in Drosophila are the only ones to date to have provided compelling evidence for the ultraviolet (UV)-A/blue light-sensitive type 1 CRY (CRY1) involvement in animal magnetoreception, and surprisingly extended this discovery to the light-insensitive mammalian-like type 2 CRYs (CRY2s) of both monarchs and humans. Here, we show that monarchs respond to a reversal of the inclination of the Earth’s magnetic field in an UV-A/blue light and CRY1, but not CRY2, dependent manner. We further demonstrate that both antennae and eyes, which express CRY1, are magnetosensory organs. Our work argues that only light-sensitive CRYs function in animal light-dependent inclination-based magnetic sensing.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21002-z

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