Unexpected divergence in magnetoreceptor MagR from robin and pigeon linked to two sequence variations  

作　　者：Shun Wang Peng Zhang Fan Fei Tianyang Tong Xiujuan Zhou Yajie Zhou Jing Zhang Mengke Wei Yanqi Zhang Lei Zhang Yulong Huang Lin Zhang Xin Zhang Tiantian Cai Can Xie 

机构地区：[1]Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology,Anhui University,Hefei,Anhui 230039,China [2]High Magnetic Field Laboratory,Hefei Institutes of Physical Science,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Science Island,Hefei,Anhui 230031,China [3]Science Island Branch of Graduate School,University of Science and Technology of China,Hefei,Anhui 230036,China [4]Department of Anatomy,Anhui Medical University,Hefei,Anhui 230032,China [5]Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,University at Buffalo,State University of New York,Buffalo,NY 14260 USA [6]International Magnetobiology Frontier Research Center,Science Island,Hefei,Anhui 230031,China

出　　处：《Zoological Research》2024年第1期69-78,共10页动物学研究（英文）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31640001 and T2350005 to C.X.,U21A20148 to X.Z.and C.X.);Ministry of Science and Technology of China(2021ZD0140300 to C.X.);Presidential Foundation of Hefei Institutes of Physical Science,Chinese Academy of Sciences(Y96XC11131,E26CCG27,and E26CCD15 to C.X.,E36CWGBR24B and E36CZG14132 to T.C.)。

摘　　要：Birds exhibit extraordinary mobility and remarkable navigational skills,obtaining guidance cues from the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation and long-distance movement.Bird species also show tremendous diversity in navigation strategies,with considerable differences even within the same taxa and among individuals from the same population.The highly conserved iron and iron-sulfur cluster binding magnetoreceptor(MagR)protein is suggested to enable animals,including birds,to detect the geomagnetic field and navigate accordingly.Notably,MagR is also implicated in other functions,such as electron transfer and biogenesis of iron-sulfur clusters,raising the question of whether variability exists in its biochemical and biophysical features among species,particularly birds.In the current study,we conducted a comparative analysis of MagR from two different bird species,including the migratory European robin(Erithacus rubecula)and the homing pigeon(Columba livia).Sequence alignment revealed an extremely high degree of similarity between the MagRs of these species,with only three sequence variations.Nevertheless,two of these variations underpinned significant differences in metal binding capacity,oligomeric state,and magnetic properties.These findings offer compelling evidence for the marked differences in MagR between the two avian species,potentially explaining how a highly conserved protein can mediate such diverse functions.

关 键 词：Homing and migration Animal navigation Magnetoreceptor(MagR) Diverse navigation pattern Conserved protein 

分 类 号：Q958[生物学—动物学]