Pigment-Dispersing Factor (PDF) Has Different Effects on Drosophila's Circadian Clocks in the Accessory Medulla and in the Dorsal Brain

The neuropeptide pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) is a key transmitter in the circadian clock of Drosophila melanogaster. Here we studied the rhythmic behavior of neural mutants with modified arborizations of the large PDF neurons. In sine oculis¹ (so¹) mutants we found a higher density of PDF fibers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of biological rhythms 2008-10, Vol.23 (5), p.409-424
Main Authors: Wülbeck, Corinna, Grieshaber, Eva, Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological clocks
Biological Clocks - physiology
Brain
Brain - metabolism
Circadian Rhythm
Circadian rhythms
Dispersion
Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster - metabolism
Drosophila Proteins - metabolism
Fruit flies
Insect Proteins - metabolism
Insects
Lobes
Male
Medulla oblongata
Models, Biological
Mutants
Mutation
Neurons
Neurons - metabolism
Neuropeptides - metabolism
Pigment-dispersing factor
Pigments
Time Factors
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Summary:The neuropeptide pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) is a key transmitter in the circadian clock of Drosophila melanogaster. Here we studied the rhythmic behavior of neural mutants with modified arborizations of the large PDF neurons. In sine oculis¹ (so¹) mutants we found a higher density of PDF fibers in the fly's pacemaker center, the accessory medulla. These flies exhibited a significantly longer period (24.6 h) than control flies. When PDF levels were elevated to very high levels in the dorsal brain as true for somda mutants and small optic lobes;so¹ double mutants (sol¹;so ¹), a short-period component split off the long period in behavioral rhythmicity. The short period became shorter the higher the amount of PDF in this brain region and reached a value of approximately 21 h. The period alterations were clearly dependent on PDF, because so¹;Pdf 01 and somda;Pdf 01 double mutants showed a single free-running component with a period similar to Pdf 01 mutants (approximately 22.5 h) and significantly longer than the short period of somda mutants. These observations indicate that PDF feeds back on the clock neurons and changes their period. Obviously, PDF lengthens the period of some clock neurons and shortens that of others.
ISSN:0748-7304
1552-4531
DOI:10.1177/0748730408322699