Phase shifting of the circadian clock by induction of the Drosophila period protein

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1994-01, Vol.263 (5144), p.237-240
• Main Authors: Edery, I, Rutila, J.E, Rosbash, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ANIMAL TRANSGENIQUE; ANIMALES TRANSGENICOS; Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Antibodies; Arithmetic mean; Behavioral neuroscience; Biochemistry; Biochemistry. Physiology. Immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Circadian Rhythm; Circadian rhythms; Clocks; Drosophila; DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER; Drosophila melanogaster - genetics; Drosophila melanogaster - physiology; Drosophila Proteins; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GENE; GENES; Genes, Insect; Insecta; Invertebrates; Locomotion; Motor Activity; Nuclear Proteins - genetics; Nuclear Proteins - physiology; Period Circadian Proteins; Phase shift; Physiological aspects; Physiology. Development; PROTEINAS; PROTEINE; RITMOS BIOLOGICOS; RYTHME BIOLOGIQUE; Temperature; Zeitgebers
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.8284676

Virtually all organisms manifest circadian (24-hour) rhythms, governed by an ill-defined endogenous pacemaker or clock. Several lines of evidence suggest that the Drosophila melanogaster period gene product PER is a clock component. If PER were central to the time-keeping mechanism, a transient increase in its concentration would cause a stable shift in the phase of the clock. Therefore, transgenic flies bearing a heat-inducible copy of PER were subjected to temperature pulses. This treatment caused long-lasting phase shifts in the locomotor activity circadian rhythm, a result that supports the contention that PER is a bona fide clock component