The insect circadian rhythm controlled by the vertebrate Cryptochrome is sensitive to weak electromagnetic fields even in permanent darkness.

BRIEDIKOVÁ, Kristína, Martin VÁCHA and Juraj MARKUŠ. The insect circadian rhythm controlled by the vertebrate Cryptochrome is sensitive to weak electromagnetic fields even in permanent darkness. In 11th Royal Institute of Navigation Conference on Animal Navigation. 2023.

Basic information

• Original name: The insect circadian rhythm controlled by the vertebrate Cryptochrome is sensitive to weak electromagnetic fields even in permanent darkness.
• Name in Czech: Hmyzí cirkadiánní rytmus řízený obratlovčím kryptochromem je citlivý na slabá elektromagnetická pole i v trvalé tmě.
• Authors: BRIEDIKOVÁ, Kristína (703 Slovakia, guarantor, belonging to the institution), Martin VÁCHA (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution) and Juraj MARKUŠ (703 Slovakia, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: 11th Royal Institute of Navigation Conference on Animal Navigation, 2023.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Conference abstract
• Field of Study: 10602 Biology , Evolutionary biology
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14310/23:00133965
• Organization unit: Faculty of Science
• Keywords (in Czech): cirkadiánní rytmus; elektromagnetická pole; Pyrrhocoris apterus; Periplaneta americana; kryptochrom
• Keywords in English: circadian rhythm; electromagnetic fields; Pyrrhocoris apterus; Periplaneta americana; Cryptochrome
• Tags: International impact

Abstract

Mechanisms controlling circadian rhythm and magnetic compass of animals remarkably use the same flavoprotein Cryptochrome (Cry). Whether Cry is a magnetic compass sensor is not yet definitively confirmed, but the fact that insect circadian rhythms have been shown to be sensitive to magnetic fields (MF) are in line with this hypothesis. We were interested to see whether a static weak MF, as well as a static weak radiofrequency (RF) field, affect clock rhythms in a species of insect that has Cry II involved in its clock controlling system, as do vertebrates. In the insect species Pyrrhocoris apterus (order Hemiptera) kept in constant conditions for 10 days, we found that both steady 120uT MF and broad-band <1nT/√Hz RF noise altered the period of the internal clock. Surprisingly, this sensitivity existed under conditions of permanent darkness or – more exactly - under IR light illumination (852nm) only. The result may suggest a non-canonical, light-independent, role for vertebrate Cry II in animal magnetoreception. In contrast to the data presented at the last RIN conference in 2019, we present for the first time a case of magnetic susceptibility of circadian clock system based on the same Cryptochrome type as vertebrates and show that the presence of short-wavelength light may not be a necessary condition for a magnetic susceptibility of a biological processes based on Cry II.

Links

• QK1910286, research and development project: Name: Efektivní postupy a strategie pro zvládání včelích chorob a udržitelný chov včelstev

Investor: Ministry of Agriculture of the CR