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Circadian Rhythms and Gene Regulation

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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,...

Circadian Rhythms and Gene Regulation

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

Parallel Measurement of Circadian Clock Gene Expression and Hormone Secretion in Human Primary Cell Cultures

Parallel Measurement of Circadian Clock Gene Expression and Hormone Secretion in Human Primary Cell Cultures

Published on: November 11, 2016

Does the circadian system regulate lactation?

K Plaut¹, T Casey

¹Department of Animal Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. kplaut@purdue.edu

Animal : an International Journal of Animal Bioscience

|March 23, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Environmental factors influence dairy cow milk production, with circadian clocks playing a key role. Light exposure (photoperiod) impacts the master clock, affecting mammary gland clocks and ultimately milk yield and composition.

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Area of Science:

Animal Science
Chronobiology
Dairy Science

Background:

Environmental factors significantly affect dairy cow milk production.
Circadian clocks, regulated by the master clock in the hypothalamus, coordinate daily rhythms.
Evidence suggests a functional circadian clock exists within the mammary gland.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of circadian clocks in mediating the effects of environmental variables on dairy cow milk production.
To explore the interaction between genotype and environment in milk production.
To understand how photoperiod influences the mammary gland's circadian clock and milk yield.

Main Methods:

Analysis of gene expression patterns in the mammary gland during lactation.
In vitro studies using bovine mammary cell lines.
Examination of mammary development and offspring survival in clock mutant mice.

Main Results:

Approximately 7% of lactation-related genes exhibited circadian expression patterns, including core clock and metabolic genes.
Mammary clock gene expression changed during the transition from pregnancy to lactation, coordinated with other tissues.
Disrupted circadian rhythms in mice led to impaired mammary development and inadequate milk production.

Conclusions:

Circadian clocks, particularly in the mammary gland, are integral to milk production in dairy cows.
Photoperiod influences milk production by "setting" the master circadian clock, which in turn affects peripheral clocks like the mammary clock.
This mechanism likely impacts both milk yield and composition.