Article
Article
Cryptochrome
Article By:
Lin, Chentao Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
Last reviewed:November 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.900113
A blue/ultraviolet-A (UV-A) light receptor found in a wide range of organisms from bacteria to humans. Cryptochrome was so named because early studies were largely done with cryptogamic (flowerless) plants and because its molecular nature once remained cryptic. Cryptochromes are the only type of photoreceptor known to function in both the plant and animal kingdoms, mediating the influence of light on plant development and the biological clock in plants and animals. Cryptochromes are flavoproteins that share structural similarities with the photoactive DNA-repairing enzyme, DNA photolyase, but they do not have photolyase activity. See also: Photoreception
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