Role of exchange and dipolar interactions in the radical pair model of the avian magnetic compass.

Journal article

It is not yet understood how migratory birds sense the Earth's magnetic field as a source of compass information. One suggestion is that the magnetoreceptor involves a photochemical reaction whose product yields are sensitive to external magnetic fields. Specifically, a flavin-tryptophan radical pair is supposedly formed by photoinduced sequential electron transfer along a chain of three tryptophan residues in a cryptochrome flavoprotein immobilized in the retina. The electron Zeeman interact...

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Authors: Efimova, O; Hore, P

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Biophysical journal
• Volume: 94
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1565-1574
• Publication date: 2008-03-01
• DOI: 10.1529/biophysj.107.119362
• EISSN: 1542-0086
• ISSN: 0006-3495
• Language: English
• Keywords: Computer Simulation; Animals; Electron Transport; Birds; Photoreceptor Cells; Orientation; Quantum Theory; Animal Migration; Flavoproteins; Magnetics; Cryptochromes; Tryptophan; Photochemistry; Retina