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Related Concept Videos

Circadian Rhythms and Gene Regulation02:19

Circadian Rhythms and Gene Regulation

The biological clock is involved in many aspects of regulating complex physiology in all animals. It was in 1935 when German zoologists, Hans Kalmus and Erwin Bünning, discovered the existence of circadian rhythm in Drosophila melanogaster. However, the internal molecular mechanisms behind the circadian clock remained a mystery until 1984, when Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael W. Young discovered the expression of the Per gene oscillating over a 24-hour cycle. In subsequent years,...

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Assaying Locomotor Activity to Study Circadian Rhythms and Sleep Parameters in Drosophila
18:08

Assaying Locomotor Activity to Study Circadian Rhythms and Sleep Parameters in Drosophila

Published on: September 29, 2010

Drosophila free-running rhythms require intercellular communication.

Ying Peng1, Dan Stoleru, Joel D Levine

  • 1Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.

Plos Biology
|September 17, 2003
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Drosophila brain clocks sustain molecular rhythms in constant darkness, unlike peripheral tissues. The neuropeptide PDF from LN(v) neurons is crucial for maintaining these brain oscillations and sustained locomotor activity.

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Assaying Locomotor Activity to Study Circadian Rhythms and Sleep Parameters in Drosophila
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Area of Science:

  • Chronobiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Circadian rhythms in Drosophila exhibit robust self-sustained oscillations, notably locomotor activity rhythms persisting in constant darkness.
  • Molecular oscillations underlying these rhythms often dampen rapidly in peripheral tissues, posing a question about mechanisms maintaining sustained rhythms.
  • The ventral lateral neurons (LN(v)s) in the Drosophila brain are implicated as a key pacemaker for behavioral rhythms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanisms underlying sustained versus damped circadian oscillations in Drosophila.
  • To determine if LN(v) neurons alone are sufficient to drive circadian locomotor activity rhythms.
  • To elucidate the role of pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) in maintaining molecular oscillations in brain clock neurons.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized an LN(v)-specific driver to restrict functional clocks to these neurons.
  • Monitored molecular oscillations of timeless and cryptochrome RNA in brain clock neurons under constant darkness.
  • Examined the effect of the Pdf(01) mutation on molecular oscillations and behavioral rhythms.

Main Results:

  • Restricting clocks to LN(v) neurons was insufficient to drive circadian locomotor activity rhythms.
  • All brain clock neurons exhibited robust circadian oscillations of timeless and cryptochrome RNA for extended periods in constant darkness.
  • These molecular oscillations require pigment-dispersing factor (PDF); oscillations were lost in Pdf(01) mutant flies under free-running conditions.
  • Brain circadian clocks sustain robust molecular oscillations, distinct from rapidly damping peripheral tissues.

Conclusions:

  • Drosophila brain circadian clocks are distinguishable from peripheral tissues due to their sustained molecular oscillations.
  • Cooperative function among different brain clock neurons is essential for maintaining robust molecular oscillations and sustained behavioral rhythms.
  • The LN(v) neurons and their synthesized neuropeptide PDF play a critical role in coordinating a brain circadian cellular network necessary for rhythm persistence.