Model and Non-model Insects in Chronobiology

Abstract

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an established model organism in chronobiology, because genetic manipulation and breeding in the laboratory are easy. The circadian clock neuroanatomy in D. melanogaster is one of the best-known clock networks in insects and basic circadian behavior has been characterized in detail in this insect. Another model in chronobiology is the honey bee Apis mellifera, of which diurnal foraging behavior has been described already in the early twentieth century. A. mellifera hallmarks the research on the interplay between the clock and sociality and complex behaviors like sun compass navigation and time-place-learning. Nevertheless, there are aspects of clock structure and function, like for example the role of the clock in photoperiodism and diapause, which can be only insufficiently investigated in these two models. Unlike high-latitude flies such as Chymomyza costata or D. ezoana, cosmopolitan D. melanogaster flies do not display a photoperiodic diapause. Similarly, A. mellifera bees do not go into “real” diapause, but most solitary bee species exhibit an obligatory diapause. Furthermore, sociality evolved in different Hymenoptera independently, wherefore it might be misleading to study the social clock only in one social insect. Consequently, additional research on non-model insects is required to understand the circadian clock in Diptera and Hymenoptera. In this review, we introduce the two chronobiology model insects D. melanogaster and A. mellifera, compare them with other insects and show their advantages and limitations as general models for insect circadian clocks.

Antibodies Against the Clock Proteins Period and Cryptochrome Reveal the Neuronal Organization of the Circadian Clock in the Pea Aphid

“…To reveal the arborizations of further clock neurons, we applied anti-PDH, an antiserum that unraveled the projections of clock neurons in a wide variety of insects ( Homberg et al, 1991 ; Stengl and Homberg, 1994 ; Helfrich-Förster, 1995 , 2005 ; Helfrich-Förster et al, 1998 ; Sehadová et al, 2003 ; Závodská et al, 2003 ; Shiga and Numata, 2009 ; Vafopoulou and Steel, 2012 ; Ikeno et al, 2014 ; Shafer and Yao, 2014 ; Stengl and Arendt, 2016 ; Beer and Helfrich-Förster, 2020 ). In 10 brains immunostained with anti-PDH, we could not detect any labeling.…”

“…rhythmicity, but instead couple the light cycle of the external environment with the master clock in the accessory medulla (Fleissner et al, 2001). In other insects investigated so far (flies, bees, ants, moths, and butterflies), clock neurons were not located in the lamina (Helfrich-Förster, 2005;Kay et al, 2018;Beer and Helfrich-Förster, 2020). The great majority of the so far investigated insects possesses clock neurons in the dorsal protocerebrum (Frisch et al, 1996;Helfrich-Förster et al, 1998;Helfrich-Förster, 2005;Beer and Helfrich-Förster, 2020), and at least in the moth Antheraea pernyi and the Monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus, the PER-positive DNs are more important in controlling circadian activity rhythms than the LNs (Sauman and Reppert, 1996a,b;Sauman et al, 2005;Reppert, 2006).…”

“…Circadian clocks are generally based on molecular transcriptisonal and translational feedback loops, which are interconnected and result in a rhythmic expression of genes (reviewed by Pilorz et al, 2018 ; Beer and Helfrich-Förster, 2020 ). In Drosophila melanogaster , the clock of which is best studied among insects, the fundamental feedback loop includes the genes period ( PER ), timeless ( tim ), clock ( CLK ), cycle ( CYC ), and their respective protein products PER, TIM, CLK, and CYC.…”

Desarrollo de un Simulador de Oscilación Bioquímica Circadiana

“…El mecanismo cronobiológico general está basado en un sistema de oscilación periódica, regulado exógena y endógenamente por los estímulos de luz-oscuridad. Se enlistan los doce genes tipo reloj más estudiados en este modelo, anotados en orden alfabético; así como algunos ejemplos de las funciones que dependen del sistema (basado en Beer & Helfrich-Förster, 2020).…”

“…Siendo el gen del período (Per) el primer reloj que se aisló y que resultó estar altamente conservado en el reino animal. La experimentación en insectos: pulgón (Acyrthosiphon pisum), mosquito (Anopheles gambiae), abeja (Apis mellifera), mariposa monarca (Danaus plexippus), grillo (Gryllus bimaculatus), cucaracha (Rhyparobia maderae) y escarabajo (Tribolium castaneum), han permitido caracterizar las similitudes y diferencias entre los diversos sistemas cronobiológicos (Beer & Helfrich-Förster, 2020).…”