The Circadian Clock of the Fly: A Neurogenetics Journey Through Time

Özkaya, Özge; Rosato, Ezio

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-387687-4.00004-0

Cited by 85 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 179 publications

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“…This trend coincides with our observation of higher levels during the subjective morning, and lower levels at the beginning of the subjective night; however, we could not detect changes through the night, suggesting that, at least in clock neurons, there is a circadian rather than an homeostatic control of synaptic activity. Given that clock outputs are predominantly regulated at the transcriptional level [24], and that there is circadian regulation of MEF2, a transcription factor that turns on a program involved in structural remodeling [13], this correlation opens the provocative possibility that the circadian clock is controlling the ability of assembling novel synapses in particularly plastic neurons, which might become stabilized/recruited or otherwise pruned (disassembled), towards the end of the day.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circadian Pacemaker Neurons Change Synaptic Contacts across the Day

et al. 2014

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Summary Daily cycles of rest and activity are a common example of circadian control of physiology. In Drosophila rhythmic locomotor cycles rely on the activity of 150-200 neurons grouped in seven clusters [1, 2]. Work from many laboratories points to the small Lateral Neurons ventral (sLNvs) as essential for circadian control of locomotor rhythmicity [3-7]. sLNv neurons undergo circadian remodeling of their axonal projections opening the possibility for a circadian control of connectivity of these relevant circadian pacemakers [8]. Here we show that circadian plasticity of the sLNv axonal projections has further implications than mere structural changes. First, we found that the degree of daily structural plasticity exceeds that originally described [8] underscoring that changes in the degree of fasciculation as well as extension or pruning of axonal terminals could be involved. Interestingly, the quantity of active zones changes along the day, lending support to the attractive hypothesis that new synapses are formed while others are dismantled between late night and the following morning. More remarkably, taking full advantage of the GFP Reconstitution Across Synaptic Partners (GRASP) technique [9] we showed that, in addition to new synapses being added or removed, sLNv neurons contact different synaptic partners at different times along the day. These results lead us to propose that the circadian network, and in particular the sLNv neurons, orchestrates some of the physiological and behavioral differences between day and night by changing the path through which information travels.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circadian Pacemaker Neurons Change Synaptic Contacts across the Day

et al. 2014

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“…The circadian clock in the brain of Drosophila consists of about 150 clock neurons, in which the core clock genes period, timeless, clock and cycle generate molecular circadian rhythms [3,7,8]. Since the somata of these clock neurons are distributed in the lateral and dorsal brain, the neurons are named accordingly (Lateral Neurons (LN) and Dorsal Neurons (DN); Figure 1a) [9].…”

Section: Clock Network Anatomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Clock network in Drosophila

Hermann-Luibl

Helfrich‐Förster

2015

Current Opinion in Insect Science

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“…Secondly, we discuss motor pattern generation in mating. Species differences in courtship song parameters are ascribable, at least in part, to polymorphisms in the period ( per ) gene, a key player in circadian and ultradian rhythm generation (Ozkaya & Rosato, 2012). per also contributes to the species difference in activity rhythms, which affect the timing of mating in fl ies, and could consequently impose a barrier to reproduction.…”

Section: Neurogenetics Of Species-specifi C Behavior 131mentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and Neural Bases for Species-Specific Behavior inDrosophilaSpecies

Yamamoto

Ishikawa

2013

Journal of Neurogenetics

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Behavioral changes in evolution have attracted the attention of many evolutionary biologists. Closely related species, or even individuals from different populations within a species, often exhibit remarkably different behaviors. Such behavioral diversification has been implicated as a cause of speciation in some cases, yet the mechanisms that produce and maintain these changes remain largely unknown. Drosophila melanogaster, an outstanding model organism with which to explore the causal link among the gene, neural circuitry, and behavior, provides an excellent entry point for a comparative approach to the origin of behavioral diversification with a single-gene and single-cell resolution. Here we survey studies that attempted to reveal the mechanistic bases for behavioral changes potentially associated with speciation, and we discuss the successfully identified candidate genes or neurons involved in such events. Although evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), a field devoted to the developmental and molecular basis of phenotypic diversity, has mostly been focused on morphological traits, the extension of this evo-devo approach to behavioral diversity will provide a comprehensive understanding of the genome-environment interactions underlying adaptive evolution.

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The Circadian Clock of the Fly: A Neurogenetics Journey Through Time

Cited by 85 publications

References 179 publications

Circadian Pacemaker Neurons Change Synaptic Contacts across the Day

Circadian Pacemaker Neurons Change Synaptic Contacts across the Day

Clock network in Drosophila

Genetic and Neural Bases for Species-Specific Behavior inDrosophilaSpecies

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