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Circadian changes in Drosophila motor terminals
Author(s) -
Mehnert Kerstin I.,
Beramendi Ana,
Elghazali Fahad,
Negro Paolo,
Kyriacou Charalambos P.,
Cantera Rafael
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
developmental neurobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.716
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1932-846X
pISSN - 1932-8451
DOI - 10.1002/dneu.20332
Subject(s) - biology , circadian rhythm , timeless , drosophila melanogaster , circadian clock , mutant , rhythm , period (music) , phenotype , darkness , oscillating gene , neuroscience , drosophila (subgenus) , clock , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene , medicine , botany , physics , acoustics
In Drosophila melanogaster, as in most other higher organisms, a circadian clock controls the rhythmic distribution of rest/sleep and locomotor activity. Here we report that the morphology of Drosophila flight neuromuscular terminals changes between day and night, with a rhythm in synaptic bouton size that continues in constant darkness, but is abolished during aging. Furthermore, arrhythmic mutations in the clock genes timeless and period also disrupt this circadian rhythm. Finally, these clock mutants also have an opposing effect on the nonrhythmic phenotype of neuronal branching, with tim mutants showing a dramatic hyperbranching morphology and per mutants having fewer branches than wild‐type flies. These unexpected results reveal further circadian as well as nonclock related pleiotropic effects for these classic behavioral mutants. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2007.