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Design and Analysis of Temperature Preference Behavior and its Circadian Rhythm in Drosophila
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Principles underlying the complex dynamics of temperature entrainment by a circadian clock
Philipp Burt1,2, Saskia Grabe1,2, Cornelia Madeti3
1Institute for Theoretical Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Iscience
|November 24, 2021
Summary
Daily temperature rhythms entrain circadian clocks in Neurospora crassa, leading to complex behaviors like period-doubling. Mathematical modeling explains these nonlinear dynamics, advancing our understanding of biological timekeeping.
Area of Science:
- Chronobiology
- Molecular Biology
- Nonlinear Dynamics
Background:
- Circadian clocks organize physiology with daily environmental rhythms (zeitgebers).
- Light-dark cycles are well-studied zeitgebers, but temperature rhythm entrainment is poorly understood.
- Daily temperature rhythms are potent zeitgebers influencing biological processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the entrainment of circadian clocks in Neurospora crassa by daily temperature rhythms.
- To explore the effects of varying thermocycle periods and phase durations on entrainment dynamics.
- To understand the complex nonlinear phenomena observed during temperature entrainment.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the chronobiological model organism Neurospora crassa.
- Subjected the organism to thermocycles with varying periods and warm/cold phase fractions.
- Employed molecular mathematical modeling to analyze experimental observations.
Main Results:
- Observed regularly entrained rhythms under specific thermocycle conditions.
- Documented period-doubling (frequency demultiplication) in response to certain thermocycles.
- Identified irregular and aperiodic behavior under other thermocycle properties.
Conclusions:
- The entrainment of circadian clocks by temperature rhythms exhibits complex nonlinear dynamics.
- Mathematical modeling provides a framework for understanding experimentally observed entrainment phenomena.
- This study advances the understanding of how organisms entrain to daily temperature cycles.
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