Clock Gene Timeless in the Chagas Disease Vector Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

GARCIA BA; STROPPA MM

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE

AMER SOC TROP MED & HYGIENE

Año: 2019 vol. 101 p. 1369 - 1372

0002-9637

In order to contribute to a better understanding of the molecular basis of the circadian biological rhythms in Chagas disease vectors, in this work we identified functional domains in the sequences of the clock protein TIMELESS (TIM) in Rhodnius prolixus and analyzed the expression of the timeless (tim) gene at mRNA level in Triatoma infestans. The tim gene expression in nervous tissue of adults T. infestans revealed clear oscillations in the abundance of the transcript in both sexes in the group maintained under photoperiod (LD) with a daily canonical rhythm, showing a significant increase of expression at sunset. As expected, in the group maintained in constant light (LL), no daily increase was detected in tim transcript level.