Broad Epigenetic Shifts in the Aging Drosophila Retina Contribute to Its Altered Diurnal Rhythmic Transcriptome.

ABSTRACT: Alterations in biological rhythms are a common feature of aging, and disruption of circadian rhythms can exacerbate age-associated pathologies. The retina is critical for detecting light for both vision and for transmitting time-of-day information to the brain, synchronizing rhythms throughout the body. Disruption of circadian rhythms by manipulating the molecular clock leads to premature retinal degeneration in flies and mice, and gene expression rhythms are altered in models of age-associated ocular disease. Despite this, it is unknown how or why the gene expression rhythms of the retina change with age. Here, we show that ~70% of the Drosophila transcriptome is rhythmically expressed throughout the diurnal cycle, with ~40% of genes showing altered rhythms with age. These transcriptome-w

SUBMITTER: McGovern SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12895490 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature