Structural determinants of avian magnetoreception (Sig03)

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To achieve a comprehensive understanding of magnetoreception and vertebrate navigation, it is important to characterize the primary sensory proteins in which the biophysical detection of magnetic fields takes place, and to understand how the primary sensing event is translated into structural changes initiating the downstream signalling cascade. In project Sig03 we will elucidate the conformational spectrum of cryptochrome using molecular cryo-electron microscopy and single-particle reconstruction. Analysis of the conformational states of an avian cryptochrome at defined magnetic fields, will allow us to uncover the molecular mechanisms at the heart of this magnetic sensing process.