Pegoraro, M, Gesto, JS, Kyriacou, CP and Tauber, E (2014) Role for Circadian Clock Genes in Seasonal Timing: Testing the Bunning Hypothesis. PLoS Genetics, 10 (9). ISSN 1553-7404

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Abstract

A major question in chronobiology focuses around the “Bünning hypothesis” which implicates the circadian clock in photoperiodic (day-length) measurement and is supported in some systems (e.g. plants) but disputed in others. Here, we used the seasonally-regulated thermotolerance of Drosophila melanogaster to test the role of various clock genes in day-length measurement. In Drosophila, freezing temperatures induce reversible chill coma, a narcosis-like state. We have corroborated previous observations that wild-type flies developing under short photoperiods (winter-like) exhibit significantly shorter chill-coma recovery times (CCRt) than flies that were raised under long (summer-like) photoperiods. Here, we show that arrhythmic mutant strains, per01, tim01 and ClkJrk, as well as variants that speed up or slow down the circadian period, disrupt the photoperiodic component of CCRt. Our results support an underlying circadian function mediating seasonal daylength measurement and indicate that clock genes are tightly involved in photo- and thermo-periodic measurements.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	0604 Genetics
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics
Divisions:	Biological & Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	Public Library of Science
Related URLs:	Author
Date Deposited:	02 Feb 2021 10:35
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2021 06:01
DOI or ID number:	10.1371/journal.pgen.1004603
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14375

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