Wie erkennt der innere Monatskalender von Tieren die richtige Mondphase?

Abstract

Many marine animals time their reproduction according to moon phases. The marine bristle worm Platynereis dumerilii has a light-sensitive cryptochrome, L-Cry, that enables the bristle worm to synchronize its reproduction to the full moon phase. We found that L-Cry can discriminate between moonlight and sunlight and between moon phases. Additionally, structures of dark-adapted and light-activated L-Cry provided insights into its light activation mechanism.