Circadian Expression of PERIOD and the Pigment-Dispersing Factor in the yellow white mutant Drosophila melanogaster | ||||
| Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences. A, Entomology | ||||
| Article 11, Volume 10, Issue 1, February 2017, Page 101-110 PDF (989.96 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/eajbsa.2017.12697 | ||||
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| Author | ||||
| Ehab Hassaneen | ||||
| Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Daily behavioral and physiological rhythms in most animals are regulated by a circadian clock. In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, this clock consists of a network of about 150 cerebral neurons. Different parameters of the fruit fly circadian locomotion are attributed to specific neuronal subsets and the molecular rhythms of clock genes and proteins within them. To understand the clock machinery, many clock mutant flies have been used. yellow white (y w) mutation in D. melanogaster cause impaired melanisation, eye pigmentation loss, and behavioral alterations including changes in circadian locomotion. This study investigates the possible molecular background for these circadian alterations. Results revealed that in the output pathway of the clock, the Pigment-Dispersing Factor (PDF) expression was suppressed in y w mutant fruit flies compared to Canton S (CS) wild-type in the PDF+ clock neurons. On the other hand, the degradation of the PERIOD (PER) protein was significantly delayed in y w mutants and their levels was higher, especially at the transition from dark to light. The combined effect of elevated PER levels and suppressed PDF signaling provides an explanation for the delayed morning locomotor activity peak (M) and advanced evening peak (E) of y w flies compared to CS. It could be concluded that mutations affecting eye pigmentation like the y w mutation could have profound effects on the circadian regulation of behavior and their underlying molecular oscillations in clock neurons. These effects reduce the plasticity and robustness of the circadian clock and expose the flies to higher levels of the environmental risk of desiccation. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| PER; PDF; Drosophila melanogaster; yellow white; Circadian clock | ||||
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