Circadian Control of Behavior

Tufts University, Medford MA

Investigators

Abstract

F. Rob Jackson, Ph.D. (Proposal 0234724) "Circadian control of locomotor activity" In all animal species, including humans, many different biological processes (e.g., sleep or general activity) show 24-h rhythms and are controlled by an endogenous circadian clock, located in the brain. In the present proposal the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is being used as a genetic model to study the factors that act downstream of the clock cells (in the brain) to effect the expression of rhythmic processes. One of those factors is called Ebony and is the subject of this application. The ebony gene is expressed according to a circadian rhythm and ebony mutants show altered activity rhythms. The purpose of the present work is to determine where (in which cells) the ebony gene acts in the nervous system and to study how those cells control activity rhythms. The advantage of this research approach in Drosophila is the use of genetic techniques to examine the cell biology and biochemistry underlying complex behavioral processes. As many of the factors comprising circadian clock systems are conserved between Drosophila and mammalian species (e.g., humans), the proposed work may help elucidate the clock control of rhythmic processes in other species.