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Zebrafish Clock rhythmic expression reveals independent peripheral circadian oscillators
D Whitmore1, N S Foulkes, U Strähle
1Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS-INSERM-ULP, Strasbourg, France.
Nature Neuroscience
|April 10, 1999
Summary
Zebrafish Clock gene shows circadian rhythm in the brain, eye, and pineal gland, unlike its mouse counterpart. This indicates self-sustaining biological clocks in multiple vertebrate organs.
Area of Science:
- Chronobiology
- Molecular biology
- Vertebrate genetics
Background:
- The Clock gene is crucial for circadian rhythms.
- Mouse Clock is the sole vertebrate clock gene identified via mutagenesis.
- Its rhythmic expression patterns in other vertebrates remain largely uncharacterized.
Purpose of the Study:
- To clone and characterize the Clock gene in zebrafish.
- To investigate the expression patterns and circadian rhythmicity of zebrafish Clock.
- To determine if zebrafish possess self-sustaining circadian oscillators in peripheral organs.
Main Methods:
- Cloning of the zebrafish Clock gene.
- Quantitative analysis of Clock gene expression using techniques like quantitative PCR.
- In vitro culture of zebrafish tissues to assess sustained oscillations.
Main Results:
- Zebrafish Clock was successfully cloned.
- Clock expression exhibited a pronounced circadian rhythm in the brain, eye, and pineal gland.
- Circadian oscillation of Clock was also observed in kidney and heart tissues, persisting in vitro.
Conclusions:
- Zebrafish Clock is rhythmically expressed in key brain pacemaker structures and peripheral organs.
- This suggests the presence of self-sustaining circadian oscillators in multiple zebrafish organs.
- The findings highlight conserved and divergent mechanisms of circadian clock function between zebrafish and mouse.