Magnetoreception in microorganisms and fungi

Abstract

The ability to respond to magnetic fields is ubiquitous among the five kingdoms of organisms. Apart from the mechanisms that are at work in bacterial magnetotaxis, none of the innumerable magnetobiological effects are as yet completely understood in terms of their underlying physical principles. Physical theories on magnetoreception, which draw on classical electrodynamics as well as on quantum electrodynamics, have greatly advanced during the past twenty years, and provide a basis for biological experimentation. This review places major emphasis on theories, and magnetobiological effects that occur in response to weak and moderate magnetic fields, and that are not related to magnetotaxis and magnetosomes. While knowledge relating to bacterial magnetotaxis has advanced considerably during the past 27 years, the biology of other magnetic effects has remained largely on a phenomenological level, a fact that is partly due to a lack of model organisms and model responses; and in great part also to the circumstance that the biological community at large takes little notice of the field, and in particular of the available physical theories. We review the known magnetobiological effects for bacteria, protists and fungi, and try to show how the variegated empirical material could be approached in the framework of the available physical models.

Photoreceptor-based magnetoreception: optimal design of receptor molecules, cells, and neuronal processing

“…Behavioural studies have provided more information about the functional properties of magnetic compasses in a variety of animals (Rappl et al 2000;Wiltschko et al 2000aWiltschko et al ,b, 2001Wiltschko et al , 2002bWiltschko et al , 2003aWiltschko et al , 2004aWiltschko et al ,b, 2005Wiltschko et al , 2006Wiltschko et al , 2007aÅ kesson et al 2001;Phillips et al 2001Phillips et al , 2002Muheim et al 2002Muheim et al , 2006Irwin & Lohmann 2003;Mouritsen et al 2003Mouritsen et al , 2004aCochran et al 2004;Prior et al 2004;Vacha & Soukopova 2004;Freake & Phillips 2005;Gould 2005;Thalau et al 2006;Pazur et al 2007;Schlegel 2007;Voss et al 2007;Dommer et al 2008;Feenders et al 2008;Rogers et al 2008;Stapput et al 2008;Vacha et al 2008aVacha et al ,b, 2009Keary et al 2009;Zapka et al 2009;Hein et al 2010;Wilzeck et al 2010) and biophysical and physiological studies have provided more information about the cryptochrome suggestion (Giovani et al 2003;Möller et al 2004;Mouritsen et al 2004bAhmad et al 2007;...…”

How a High-Gradient Magnetic Field Could Affect Cell Life

“…The scientific literature is filled with thousands of works on the responses of living organisms to low, moderate and strong magnetic fields, for review see45678910. However, the biological effects related to the gradient of the magnetic fields are poorly discussed.…”

Some recommendations for experimental work in magnetobiology, revisited

“…The relevance of both the static (DC) and timevarying (AC) field strengths and AC frequency has been explained by several theoretical models (Ion Cyclotron Resonance (ICR) [Liboff, 1985[Liboff, , 2006, Parametric Cyclotron Resonance (PCR) [Lednev, 1991], interference of rotating molecular groups (molecular gyroscopes) [Binhi and Savin, 2002], direct force on free ions [Panagopoulos et al, 2002], classical Lorentz force on a charged ion bound in a harmonic oscillator [Edmonds, 1993;Muehsam and Pilla, 2009a,b], modulation of high frequency oscillations of nucleoids and chromatin [Belyaev et al, 1994;Matronchik et al, 1996], and classical precessional dynamics of a magnetic moment [Edmonds, 1993;Binhi and Prato, 2017a]), and has been demonstrated in a myriad of experiments (see, e.g., extensive reviews by Binhi [2002], Campos Albuquerque et al [2016], Funk et al [2009], Galland and Pazur [2005], and Pazur et al [2007]). Of note is that not only intensities and frequencies are relevant, but also that the relative AC/DC angle has been demonstrated to be important, both experimentally [Blackman et al, 1996;Prato et al, 1996] and theoretically [Edmonds, 1993;Muehsam and Pilla, 2009a,b].…”