Magnetoreception

Winklhofer, Michael

doi:10.1098/rsif.2010.0010.focus

Cited by 45 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Despite a wealth of behavioural evidence that provides compelling support for magnetic field perception in animals, the cellular and molecular basis for this sense remains to be discovered and characterized [1,2]. The reasons why the location, structure and function of magnetoreceptor cells have remained hidden to this point are many, but with the advent of new characterization methods and innovative experimental approaches many research tools now exist for resolving this long-standing biological question.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetic particle-mediated magnetoreception

Shaw

Boyd

House

et al. 2015

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Behavioural studies underpin the weight of experimental evidence for the existence of a magnetic sense in animals. In contrast, studies aimed at understanding the mechanistic basis of magnetoreception by determining the anatomical location, structure and function of sensory cells have been inconclusive. In this review, studies attempting to demonstrate the existence of a magnetoreceptor based on the principles of the magnetite hypothesis are examined. Specific attention is given to the range of techniques, and main animal model systems that have been used in the search for magnetite particulates. Anatomical location/cell rarity and composition are identified as two key obstacles that must be addressed in order to make progress in locating and characterizing a magnetite-based magnetoreceptor cell. Avenues for further study are suggested, including the need for novel experimental, correlative, multimodal and multidisciplinary approaches. The aim of this review is to inspire new efforts towards understanding the cellular basis of magnetoreception in animals, which will in turn inform a new era of behavioural research based on first principles.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetic particle-mediated magnetoreception

Shaw

Boyd

House

et al. 2015

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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“…However, the location, biological form and functional principle of such sensors are still unknown [4,5]. Although currently the radical pair/cryptochrome hypothesis [6][7][8] seems to dominate theoretical considerations on biological magnetoreception, the hypothesis of magnetite-based magnetoreception is still alive and has recently been given new impetus through discovery of spherical ferritin corpuscles found in hair cells of the avian inner ear [9].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetically induced behaviour of ferritin corpuscles in avian ears: can cuticulosomes function as magnetosomes?

Jandačka

Burda

Pištora

2015

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Magnetoreception is an enigmatic, poorly understood sensory ability, described mainly on the basis of behavioural studies in animals of diverse taxa. Recently, corpuscles containing superparamagnetic iron-storage protein ferritin were found in the inner ear hair cells of birds, a predominantly single ferritin corpuscle per cell. It was suggested that these corpuscles might represent magnetosomes and function as magnetosensors. Here we determine ferritin low-field paramagnetic susceptibility to estimate its magnetically induced intracellular behaviour. Physical simulations show that ferritin corpuscles cannot be deformed or rotate in weak geomagnetic fields, and thus cannot provide magnetoreception via deformation of the cuticular plate. Furthermore, we reached an alternative hypothesis that ferritin corpuscle in avian ears may function as an intracellular electromagnetic oscillator. Such an oscillator would generate additional cellular electric potential related to normal cell conditions. Though the phenomenon seems to be weak, this effect deserves further analyses.

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“…iomineralization of magnetic minerals has been discovered in a broad range of organisms, including birds, fishes, mollusks, insects, and microorganisms (23,53,55). A typical example of biomineralization is found in magnetotactic bacteria (MTB), a morphologically and phylogenetically diverse group of microorganisms that form special intracellular organelles, called magnetosomes (3, 5).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Newly Isolated but Uncultivated Magnetotactic Bacterium of the Phylum Nitrospirae from Beijing, China

Lin

Pan

2012

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) in the phylum Nitrospirae synthesize up to hundreds of intracellular bullet-shaped magnetite magnetosomes. In the present study, a watermelon-shaped magnetotactic bacterium (designated MWB-1) from Lake Beihai in Beijing, China, was characterized. This uncultivated microbe was identified as a member of the phylum Nitrospirae and represents a novel phylogenetic lineage with >6% 16S rRNA gene sequence divergence from all currently described MTB. MWB-1 contained 200 to 300 intracellular bullet-shaped magnetite magnetosomes and showed a helical swimming trajectory under homogeneous magnetic fields; its magnetotactic velocity decreased with increasing field strength, and vice versa. A robust phylogenetic framework for MWB-1 and all currently known MTB in the phylum Nitrospirae was constructed utilizing maximumlikelihood and Bayesian algorithms, which yielded strong evidence that the Nitrospirae MTB could be divided into four well-supported groups. Considering its population densities in sediment and its high numbers of magnetosomes, MWB-1 was estimated to account for more than 10% of the natural remanent magnetization of the surface sediment. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that MTB in the phylum Nitrospirae are more diverse than previously realized and can make important contributions to the sedimentary magnetization in particular environments. Biomineralization of magnetic minerals has been discovered in a broad range of organisms, including birds, fishes, mollusks, insects, and microorganisms (23,53,55). A typical example of biomineralization is found in magnetotactic bacteria (MTB), a morphologically and phylogenetically diverse group of microorganisms that form special intracellular organelles, called magnetosomes (3, 5). Magnetosomes are membrane-enveloped, nanosized, high-purity crystals of iron oxide magnetite and/or iron sulfide greigite, usually arranged into one or more linear chains (21). These specific organelles help MTB to sense and swim along the earth's magnetic field, a behavior known as magnetotaxis (8). In conjunction with aerotaxis and chemotaxis, magnetotaxis facilitates the location of MTB to their favorable positions in vertical chemical gradients in the oxic-anoxic transition zone (OATZ) (11,40). The ubiquity and abundance of MTB near the OATZ suggest their potentially important roles in the geochemical cycling of iron and sulfur in nature (48). Molecular approaches based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing have provided evidence for the phylogenetic heterogeneity of MTB. Most discovered MTB are affiliated with the Alphaproteobacteria, but MTB belonging to the Gammaproteobacteria, the Deltaproteobacteria, and Nitrospirae have also been described (2, 28).One of the most intriguing examples of MTB is "Candidatus Magnetobacterium bavaricum," a magnetite-producing MTB within the deep-branching bacterial phylum Nitrospirae that was first discovered in Lake Chiemsee in Upper Bavaria, Germany (49, 54). "Ca. Magnetobacterium bavaricum" is a large, rod-shaped bact...

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Magnetoreception

Abstract: focus or via http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing. org.One contribution of 13 to a Theme Supplement 'Magnetoreception'.

Cited by 45 publications

References 24 publications

Magnetic particle-mediated magnetoreception

Magnetic particle-mediated magnetoreception

Magnetically induced behaviour of ferritin corpuscles in avian ears: can cuticulosomes function as magnetosomes?

Newly Isolated but Uncultivated Magnetotactic Bacterium of the Phylum Nitrospirae from Beijing, China

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