The Effect of Magnetic Fields on Living Organisms: Biomolecular and Cellular Mechanisms

Dear Colleagues,

The Earth’s magnetic field or geomagnetic field (GMF) is an environmental component of our planet, and changes in GMF intensity have been shown to influence many biological processes. Plants show both light-dependent and light-independent responses to varying magnetic fields (MFs), while birds use variations in the GMF to orient during migrations. Three different mechanisms of magnetoperception have been described: a mechanism involving radical pairs (i.e., magnetically sensitive chemical intermediates that are formed by the photoexcitation of cryptochrome), which has been demonstrated both in animals and in plants; the presence of MF sensory receptors present in cells containing ferromagnetic particles, as has been shown in magnetotactic bacteria; and the detection of minute electric fields by electroreceptors in the ampullae of Lorenzini in elasmobranch animals. The theory underlying the radical pair mechanism predicts that MFs that are similar in strength to the GMF are too weak to trigger cellular biochemical reactions; however, these MFs are able to interact with short-lived reaction intermediates that affect the reaction rates of biochemical reactions. Examples include photoreceptors (e.g., cryptochromes) and redox reactions that can be initiated by metabolic factors. This modulation of cryptochrome signaling and/or redox reactions can alter reactive oxygen species synthesis in the cells.

The primary aims of this Special Issue on "The Effect of Magnetic Fields on Living Organisms: Biomolecular and Cellular Mechanisms" are to present information on magnetoreception and magnetoperception by exploring biochemical, molecular and physiological aspects of living organisms’ responses to varying MFs, from below GMF values to high-intensity MFs.

Prof. Dr. Massimo Maffei
Dr. Margaret Ahmad
Guest Editors

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