ArticleJournal of the Royal Society, Interface2018
Expression patterns of cryptochrome genes in avian retina suggest involvement of Cry4 in light-dependent magnetoreception.
Article in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Protein-Solvent Interface Controls Proton-Coupled Reactivity in Cryptochrome 4a.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026Article
- Article
- Structure of European robin cryptochrome 1 reveals a role in circadian rhythms, not magnetoreception.iScience · 2025Article
- Cryptochrome 4b protein is probably irrelevant for radical pair-based magnetoreception in the European robin.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- Clock Gene Expression in Eel Retina and Hypothalamus: Response to Photoperiod and Moonlight.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2025Article
- Interplay of Light, Melatonin, and Circadian Genes in Skin Pigmentation Regulation.Pigment cell & melanoma research · 2025Article
- Magnetic orientation in juvenile Atlantic herring (Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2024Article
- Effects of low-level RF fields reveal complex pattern of magnetic input to the avian magnetic compass.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Circadian gene variation in relation to breeding season and latitude in allochronic populations of two pelagic seabird species complexes.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Tracking the Electron Transfer Cascade in European Robin Cryptochrome 4 Mutants.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2023Article
- Cryptochromes in mammals: a magnetoreception misconception?Frontiers in physiology · 2023Review
- Chronobiology Meets Quantum Biology: A New Paradigm Overlooking the Horizon?Frontiers in physiology · 2022Review
- Localisation of cryptochrome 2 in the avian retina.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2022Article
- Article
- The expression, localisation and interactome of pigeon CRY2.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Article
- Cryptochrome expression in avian UV cones: revisiting the role of CRY1 as magnetoreceptor.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Unravelling the enigma of bird magnetoreception.Nature · 2021Article
- Cryptochromes in Mammals and Birds: Clock or Magnetic Compass?Physiology (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The light-dependent magnetic compass of birds provides orientation information about the spatial alignment of the geomagnetic field. It is proposed to be located in the avian retina, and be mediated by a light-induced, biochemical radical-pair mechanism involving cryptochromes as putative receptor molecules. At the same time, cryptochromes are known for their role in the negative feedback loop in the circadian clock. We measured gene expression of Cry1, Cry2 and Cry4 in the retina, muscle and brain of zebra finches over the circadian day to assess whether they showed any circadian rhythmicity. We hypothesized that retinal cryptochromes involved in magnetoreception should be expressed at a constant level over the circadian day, because birds use a light-dependent magnetic compass for orientation not only during migration, but also for spatial orientation tasks in their daily life. Cryptochromes serving in circadian tasks, on the other hand, are expected to be expressed in a rhythmic (circadian) pattern. Cry1 and Cry2 displayed a daily variation in the retina as expected for circadian clock genes, while Cry4 expressed at constant levels over time. We conclude that Cry4 is the most likely candidate magnetoreceptor of the light-dependent magnetic compass in birds.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.