Circadian plasticity evolves through regulatory changes in a neuropeptide gene.

ABSTRACT: Many organisms, including cosmopolitan drosophilids, show circadian plasticity, varying their activity with changing dawn-dusk intervals¹. How this behaviour evolves is unclear. Here we compare Drosophila melanogaster with Drosophila sechellia, an equatorial, ecological specialist that experiences minimal photoperiod variation, to investigate the mechanistic basis of circadian plasticity evolution². D. sechellia has lost the ability to delay its evening activity peak time under long photoperiods. Screening of circadian mutants in D. melanogaster/D. sechellia hybrids identifies a contribution of the neuropeptide pigment-dispersing factor (Pdf) to this loss. Pdf exhibits species-specific temporal expression, due in part to cis-regulatory divergence. RNA interference and

SUBMITTER: Shahandeh MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11602725 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature