University of Marburg, Department of Biology, Molecular Plant Physiology and Photobiology, D-35032 Marburg, Germany.
Biol Chem. 2020 Nov 26;401(12):1487-1493. doi: 10.1515/hsz-2020-0182.
Drosophila, Arabidopsis, Synechocystis, human (DASH)-type cryptochromes (cry-DASHs) form one subclade of the cryptochrome/photolyase family (CPF). CPF members are flavoproteins that act as DNA-repair enzymes (DNA-photolyases), or as ultraviolet(UV)-A/blue light photoreceptors (cryptochromes). In mammals, cryptochromes are essential components of the circadian clock feed-back loop. Cry-DASHs are present in almost all major taxa and were initially considered as photoreceptors. Later studies demonstrated DNA-repair activity that was, however, restricted to UV-lesions in single-stranded DNA. Very recent studies, particularly on microbial organisms, substantiated photoreceptor functions of cry-DASHs suggesting that they could be transitions between photolyases and cryptochromes.
果蝇、拟南芥、集胞藻、人类（DASH）型隐花色素（cry-DASH）构成隐花色素/光解酶家族（CPF）的一个亚科。CPF 成员是黄素蛋白，它们作为 DNA 修复酶（DNA 光解酶）或作为紫外线（UV）-A/蓝光光受体（隐花色素）发挥作用。在哺乳动物中，隐花色素是昼夜节律反馈环的重要组成部分。Cry-DASH 存在于几乎所有主要分类群中，最初被认为是光受体。后来的研究表明，它们具有 DNA 修复活性，但仅限于单链 DNA 中的 UV 损伤。最近的研究，特别是对微生物的研究，证实了 cry-DASH 的光受体功能，表明它们可能是光解酶和隐花色素之间的过渡。
