News tagged with cryptochrome
Cryptochrome
Cryptochromes (from the Greek κρυπτό χρώμα, hidden colour) are a class of blue light-sensitive flavoproteins found in plants and animals. Cryptochromes are involved in the circadian rhythms of plants and animals, and in the sensing of magnetic fields in a number of species. The name Cryptochrome was proposed as a pun combining the cryptic nature of the photoreceptor, and the cryptogamic organisms on which many blue light studies were carried out.
The two genes Cry1 and Cry2 code for the two cryptochrome proteins CRY1 and CRY2. In insects and plants, CRY1 regulates the circadian clock in a light-dependent fashion, whereas in mammals, CRY1 and CRY2 act as light-independent inhibitors of CLOCK-BMAL1 components of the circadian clock. In plants, blue light photoreception can be used to cue developmental signals.
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Biologists discover an 'evening' protein complex that regulates plant growth
Farmers and other astute observers of nature have long known that crops like corn and sorghum grow taller at night. But the biochemical mechanisms that control this nightly stem elongation, common to most plants, have been ...
Jul 13, 2011 |
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Scientists pinpoint link between light signal and circadian rhythms
In a new paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD, the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine, and his collea ...
Dec 29, 2010 |
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Biochemical link between biological clock and diabetes discovered
Biologists have found that a key protein that regulates the biological clocks of mammals also regulates glucose production in the liver and that altering the levels of this protein can improve the health of diabetic mice.
Sep 19, 2010 |
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Sharp-eyed robins can see magnetic fields
(PhysOrg.com) -- It has been known for decades that some birds are able to sense the Earth's magnetic field and set their direction as if following a compass heading, which is an extremely useful ability for ...
Jul 09, 2010 |
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Monarch butterflies reveal a novel way in which animals sense the Earth's magnetic field
Building on prior investigation into the biological mechanisms through which monarch butterflies are able to migrate up to 2,000 miles from eastern North America to a particular forest in Mexico each year, ...
Jan 25, 2010 |
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Toxic molecule may help birds 'see' north and south
Researchers at the University of Illinois report that a toxic molecule known to damage cells and cause disease may also play a pivotal role in bird migration. The molecule, superoxide, is proposed as a key ...
Jun 22, 2009 |
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Scientists model 3D structures of proteins that control human clock
In an Early Edition issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on April 9, 2009, the researchers report that they have been able to determine the molecular structure of a plant photolyase protein that ...
Apr 11, 2009 |
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