The clock gene Period1 regulates innate routine behaviour in mice

Laboratory mice are well capable of performing innate routine behaviour programmes necessary for courtship, nest-building and exploratory activities although housed for decades in animal facilities. We found that in mice inactivation of the clock gene Period1 profoundly changes innate routine behaviour programmes like those necessary for courtship, nest building, exploration and learning. These results in wild-type and Period1 mutant mice, together with earlier findings on courtship behaviour in wild-type and period-mutant Drosophila melanogaster, suggest a conserved role of Period-genes on innate routine behaviour. Additionally, both per-mutant flies and Period1-mutant mice display spatial learning and memory deficits. The profound influence of Period1 on routine behaviour programmes in mice, including female partner choice, may be independent of its function as a circadian clock gene, since Period1-deficient mice display normal circadian behaviour.