Quantum-mechanical insights into the anisotropic response of the cryptochrome radical pair to a weak magnetic field

Cryptochrome photoreceptors contain a photochemically generated radical pair which is thought to mediate sensing of the geomagnetic field direction in many living organisms. To gain insight into the response of the cryptochrome to a weak magnetic field, we have studied the quantum-mechanical hyperfine spin states of the radical pair. We identify quantum states responsible for precise detection of the magnetic field direction, taking into account the strongly axial hyperfine interactions of each radical in the radical pair. The contribution of these states to formation of the cryptochrome signaling state sharply increases when the magnetic field becomes orthogonal to the hyperfine axis of either radical. Due to such a response, the radical pair may be able to detect the particular field direction normal to the plane containing the hyperfine axes of the radicals.