Major
Neuroscience
Anticipated Graduation Year
2021
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
The endogenous circadian clock of biological organisms is what allows them to synchronize their behavioral and physiological circadian rhythms to their environment. This circadian rhythm regulates the timing of behaviors like sleeping, eating, locomotion, etc. The circadian circuit operates by input pathways, a central clock in the brain, and output pathways. This circuitry depends on the oscillation of core clock genes, present in both the brain and in peripheral tissues. Although much is known about the central clock on the molecular level, not much is known about the molecular mechanisms of peripheral clocks, and how they interact with the central clock to produce rhythmic behaviors. In our experiments, we investigated the role of the fat body clock’s contribution to feeding rhythms in Drosophila melanogaster. Here, we demonstrate that genetically speeding up, slowing down, or completely eliminating the central clock alters feeding behavior. Conversely, genetic manipulation of the fat body clock did not alter feeding behavior. These findings indicate that the central clock in the brain functions as the master regulator of feeding rhythms.
Key words: circadian, central clock, fat body clock, peripheral clock, feeding rhythms
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Daniel Cavanaugh, PhD, Biology Department
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
GENETIC DISSECTION OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL CIRCADIAN CLOCKS TO DROSOPHILA FEEDING RHYTHMS
The endogenous circadian clock of biological organisms is what allows them to synchronize their behavioral and physiological circadian rhythms to their environment. This circadian rhythm regulates the timing of behaviors like sleeping, eating, locomotion, etc. The circadian circuit operates by input pathways, a central clock in the brain, and output pathways. This circuitry depends on the oscillation of core clock genes, present in both the brain and in peripheral tissues. Although much is known about the central clock on the molecular level, not much is known about the molecular mechanisms of peripheral clocks, and how they interact with the central clock to produce rhythmic behaviors. In our experiments, we investigated the role of the fat body clock’s contribution to feeding rhythms in Drosophila melanogaster. Here, we demonstrate that genetically speeding up, slowing down, or completely eliminating the central clock alters feeding behavior. Conversely, genetic manipulation of the fat body clock did not alter feeding behavior. These findings indicate that the central clock in the brain functions as the master regulator of feeding rhythms.
Key words: circadian, central clock, fat body clock, peripheral clock, feeding rhythms