IIBBA   05544
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOQUIMICAS DE BUENOS AIRES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Conditional suppression of action potential firing of pacemaker neurons uncouples the molecular clock from circadian outputs in adult Drosophila
Autor/es:
DEPETRIS-CHAUVIN A; BERNI J; ARANOVICH EJ; MURARO NI; BECKWITH EJ; CERIANI MF
Lugar:
Destin, FLORIDA
Reunión:
Congreso; 13th Biennial Meeting, Society for Research on Biological Rhythms; 2012
Institución organizadora:
Society for Research on Biological Rhythms
Resumen:
In Drosophila, circadian rhythms are regulated through transcriptional feedback loops of clock genes running within specific pacemaker cells. In particular, molecular oscillations in the small ventral Lateral Neurons (sLNvs) command rhythmic behavior under free-running conditions releasing the neuropeptide PIGMENT DISPERSING FACTOR (PDF) in a circadian fashion. It has also been established that electrical activity in the sLNvs is required for behavioral rhythmicity. However, the consequences of electrical silencing of pacemaker neurons over both core molecule oscillations and clock outputs remain controversial. Genetic manipulations throughout development have been shown to produce compensatory changes and therefore are likely to cause additional undesired effects. We developed a new genetic tool for spatiotemporal control of gene expression to obtain adult-restricted electrical silencing of the PDF circuit, which led to reversible behavioral arrhythmicity. Remarkably, PER oscillations during the silenced phase remained unaltered, indicating that arrhythmicity is a direct consequence of the silenced activity. As expected, circadian axonal remodeling and PDF accumulation were severely affected during the silenced phase. These data suggests that sLNv electrical activity is not a core clock component but a circadian output involved in the coordination of rhythmic locomotor behavior.