Neuropeptide Dynamics Coordinate Layered Plasticity Mechanisms Adapting Drosophila Circadian Behavior to Changing Environment

Abstract

The Drosophila brain contains distinct sets of circadian oscillators responsible for generating the morning and evening bouts of locomotor activity, giving rise to a bimodal rest-activity pattern in light-dark cycles. We lack a mechanistic understanding of how environmental changes reshape this daily profile of rest-activity pattern. Here, we uncover a seasonal switch mechanism that remodels the evening bout of activity. Under summer-like conditions, an environment favored by fruit flies in temperate climates, levels of the PDF neuropeptide diminish, triggering a cascade. Lowered PDFR signaling disinhibits GSK3/SGG to advance the evening output. Upon sensing PDF loss, the neural activity weakens in the DN1p-SIFa circuit, responsible for promoting afternoon rest; leading to an earlier appearance of the evening peak. At the same time, the functional connections from DN1p to LNd oscillators strengthen, consequently handing over the evening pacemaker role to the DN1ps. Taken together, our findings elucidate how environment-induced changes in PDFR signaling tip the balanced output of the clock network, aligning daily rhythms with seasonal time. Neuropeptide-driven parallel adjustment of clock circuitry and clock protein functioning likely represents a conserved strategy across animal species, enabling them to adapt their daily behavior to seasonal changes throughout the year.