光照周期对尼罗罗非鱼幼鱼昼夜节律调节的作用

为了研究尼罗罗非鱼幼鱼游泳行为在不喂食时是否存在昼夜节律和光照周期的调节作用,设计了光周期为光照(L)∶黑暗(D)=12 h∶12 h,持续的黑暗(DD),持续的光照(LL),光周期为L∶D=6 h∶6 h和光周期为L∶D=2 h∶2 h。结果表明:(1)光周期为L∶D=12 h∶12 h时,尼罗罗非鱼具有明显的昼夜节律,昼夜节律周期为(24. 3±0. 2) h;(2)尼罗罗非鱼的昼夜节律在持续的黑暗和光照下仍然存在,分别为(25. 1±1. 1) h和(25. 6±1. 0) h;(3)光周期为L∶D=6 h∶6 h时,尼罗罗非鱼仍具有明显的昼夜节律(12. 6±0. 5) h;(4)在光周期为L∶D=2 h∶2 h时,尼罗罗非鱼的昼夜游泳行为仍具有明显的昼夜节律,节律周期为(4. 0±2. 0) h。这些结果表明,尼罗罗非鱼具有以24 h为周期的内源性生物钟,但相比与外源性光照调控,内源性的生物钟对罗非鱼的调控较弱,外源性的光照周期才是调节尼罗罗非鱼幼鱼昼夜行为节律的主要因素。     

A circadian rhythm orchestrated by histone deacetylase 3 controls hepatic lipid metabolism

Disruption of the circadian clock exacerbates metabolic diseases, including obesity and diabetes. We show that histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) recruitment to the genome displays a circadian rhythm in mouse liver. Histone acetylation is inversely related to HDAC3 binding, and this rhythm is lost when HDAC3 is absent. Although amounts of HDAC3 are constant, its genomic recruitment in liver corresponds to the expression pattern of the circadian nuclear receptor Rev-erbα. Rev-erbα colocalizes with HDAC3 near genes regulating lipid metabolism, and deletion of HDAC3 or Rev-erbα in mouse liver causes hepatic steatosis. Thus, genomic recruitment of HDAC3 by Rev-erbα directs a circadian rhythm of histone acetylation and gene expression required for normal hepatic lipid homeostasis.     

Transplantation of the cockroach circadian pacemaker

Surgical removal of the optic lobes of the cockroach Leucophaea maderae followed by transplantation of the optic lobes from another individual led to a restoration of the circadian activity rhythm in 4 to 8 weeks. The free-running period of the restored rhythm was determined by the period of the donor rhythm before surgery. The results suggest that the transplanted optic lobe contains a circadian clock that regenerates those neural connections with the host brain that are necessary to drive the circadian rhythm of activity.     

Antiphase oscillation of the left and right suprachiasmatic nuclei

An unusual property of the circadian timekeeping systems of animals is rhythm "splitting," in which a single daily period of physical activity (usually measured as wheel running) dissociates into two stably coupled components about 12 hours apart; this behavior has been ascribed to a clock composed of two circadian oscillators cycling in antiphase. We analyzed gene expression in the hypothalamic circadian clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), of behaviorally "split" hamsters housed in constant light. The results show that the two oscillators underlying the split condition correspond to the left and right sides of the bilaterally paired SCN.     

An hPer2 phosphorylation site mutation in familial advanced sleep phase syndrome

Familial advanced sleep phase syndrome (FASPS) is an autosomal dominant circadian rhythm variant; affected individuals are "morning larks" with a 4-hour advance of the sleep, temperature, and melatonin rhythms. Here we report localization of the FASPS gene near the telomere of chromosome 2q. A strong candidate gene (hPer2), a human homolog of the period gene in Drosophila, maps to the same locus. Affected individuals have a serine to glycine mutation within the casein kinase Iepsilon (CKIepsilon) binding region of hPER2, which causes hypophosphorylation by CKIepsilon in vitro. Thus, a variant in human sleep behavior can be attributed to a missense mutation in a clock component, hPER2, which alters the circadian period.     

Circadian changes in enzyme concentration account for rhythm of enzyme activity in gonyaulax

A circadian rhythm in the activity of luciferase is partly responsible for rhythmic bioluminescence in the dinoflagellate alga Gonyaulax polyedra. The cyclic activity of this enzyme can be attributed to a corresponding rhythm in the concentration of immunologically reactive luciferase protein. Hence protein turnover (synthesis or degradation or both) is used by the endogenous clock to control the daily rhythm of bioluminescence.     

The Neurospora checkpoint kinase 2: a regulatory link between the circadian and cell cycles

The clock gene period-4 (prd-4) in Neurospora was identified by a single allele displaying shortened circadian period and altered temperature compensation. Positional cloning followed by functional tests show that PRD-4 is an ortholog of mammalian checkpoint kinase 2 (Chk2). Expression of prd-4 is regulated by the circadian clock and, reciprocally, PRD-4 physically interacts with the clock component FRQ, promoting its phosphorylation. DNA-damaging agents can reset the clock in a manner that depends on time of day, and this resetting is dependent on PRD-4. Thus, prd-4, the Neurospora Chk2, identifies a molecular link that feeds back conditionally from circadian output to input and the cell cycle.     

Persisting circadian rhythm of cell division in a photosynthetic mutant of Euglena

A persisting, free-running, circadian rhythm of cell division in a heterotrophically grown mutant of Euglena gracilis var. bacillaris having impaired photosynthesis is obtained upon placing a culture that has been previously synchronized by a 10,14 light-dark cycle into continuous darkness at 19 degrees C (but not at 25 degrees C). A similar persisting rhythm is initiated in exponentially increasing cultures (growing in darkness at 19 degrees C) by a single "switch-up" in irradiance to continuous bright illumination. The results implicate an endogenous biological clock which "gates" the specific event of cell division in the cell developmental cycle.     

Biochemical modeling of an autonomously oscillatory circadian clock in Euglena

Eukaryotic microorganisms, as well as higher animals and plants, display many autonomous physiological and biochemical rhythmicities having periods approximating 24 hours. In an attempt to determine the nature of the timing mechanisms that are responsible for these circadian periodicities, two primary operational assumptions were postulated. Both the perturbation of a putative element of a circadian clock within its normal oscillatory range and the direct activation as well as the inhibition of such an element should yield a phase shift of an overt rhythm generated by the underlying oscillator. Results of experiments conducted in the flagellate Euglena suggest that nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), the mitochondrial Ca2+-transport system, Ca2+, calmodulin, NAD+ kinase, and NADP+ phosphatase represent clock "gears" that, in ensemble, might constitute a self-sustained circadian oscillating loop in this and other organisms.     

Circadian rhythm of cell division in Euglena: effects of random illumination regimen

A persisting, "free-running," circadian rhythm of cell division in autotrophically grown Euglena gracilis is obtained upon placing either an exponentially increasing population or a culture that has been synchronized by a 10:14 light-dark cycle in a random illumination regimen that affords a total of 8 hours of light each 24 hours. These results are interpreted as implicating an endogenous biological clock which "gates" the specific event of cell division in the cell developmental cycle.     

Extraretinal light perception: entrainment of the biological clock controlling lizard locomotor activity

The circadian activity rhythm of the iguanid lizard Sceloporus olivaceus can be entrained by light cycles whether or not the animals have eyes. Removal of the pineal organ and parietal eye in blinded lizards does not prevent entrainment. Our data demonstrate the existence of an extraretinal photoreceptor which can mediate entrainment of a biological clock in reptiles.     

Control mechanism of the circadian clock for timing of cell division in vivo

Cell division in many mammalian tissues is associated with specific times of day, but just how the circadian clock controls this timing has not been clear. Here, we show in the regenerating liver (of mice) that the circadian clock controls the expression of cell cycle-related genes that in turn modulate the expression of active Cyclin B1-Cdc2 kinase, a key regulator of mitosis. Among these genes, expression of wee1 was directly regulated by the molecular components of the circadian clockwork. In contrast, the circadian clockwork oscillated independently of the cell cycle in single cells. Thus, the intracellular circadian clockwork can control the cell-division cycle directly and unidirectionally in proliferating cells.     

JETLAG resets the Drosophila circadian clock by promoting light-induced degradation of TIMELESS

Organisms ranging from bacteria to humans synchronize their internal clocks to daily cycles of light and dark. Photic entrainment of the Drosophila clock is mediated by proteasomal degradation of the clock protein TIMELESS (TIM). We have identified mutations in jetlag-a gene coding for an F-box protein with leucine-rich repeats-that result in reduced light sensitivity of the circadian clock. Mutant flies show rhythmic behavior in constant light, reduced phase shifts in response to light pulses, and reduced light-dependent degradation of TIM. Expression of JET along with the circadian photoreceptor cryptochrome (CRY) in cultured S2R cells confers light-dependent degradation onto TIM, thereby reconstituting the acute response + of the circadian clock to light in a cell culture system. Our results suggest that JET is essential for resetting the clock by transmitting light signals from CRY to TIM.     

Circadian rhythms. Liver regeneration clocks on

In some simple protozoans and unicellular algae, the cell cycle clock is strongly influenced by the circadian clock, such that mitotic cell division takes place only at certain times of the day. Now, as Schibler reports in his Perspective, new work on regenerating liver cells in mice (Matsuo et al.) reveals that the cell cycle clock of mammalian cells is also under the yoke of the master circadian oscillator.     

Illuminating the circadian clock in monarch butterfly migration

Migratory monarch butterflies use a time-compensated Sun compass to navigate to their overwintering grounds in Mexico. Here, we report that constant light, which disrupts circadian clock function at both the behavioral and molecular levels in monarchs, also disrupts the time-compensated component of flight navigation. We further show that ultraviolet light is important for flight navigation but is not required for photic entrainment of circadian rhythms. Tracing these distinct light-input pathways into the brain should aid our understanding of the clock-compass mechanisms necessary for successful migration.