title: Epistatic and synergistic interactions between circadian clock mutations in Neurospora crassa.
abstract: We identified a series of epistatic and synergistic interactions among the circadian clock mutations of Neurospora crassa that indicate possible physical interactions among the various clock components encoded by these genes. The period-6 (prd-6) mutation, a short-period temperature-sensitive clock mutation, is epistatic to both the prd-2 and prd-3 mutations. The prd-2 and prd-3 long-period mutations show a synergistic interaction in that the period length of the double mutant strain is considerably longer than predicted. In addition, the prd-2 prd-3 double mutant strain also exhibits overcompensation to changes in ambient temperature, suggesting a role in the temperature compensation machinery of the clock. The prd-2, prd-3, and prd-6 mutations also show significant interactions with the frq(7) long-period mutation. These results suggest that the gene products of prd-2, prd-3, and prd-6 play an important role in both the timing and temperature compensation mechanisms of the circadian clock and may interact with the FRQ protein.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, 95064, USA.
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Feldman
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000235:genetics*; D004843:Epistasis, Genetic; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009154:Mutation; D009492:Neurospora crassa / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; C087405:FRQ protein, Neurospora crassa; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; C099290:PER6 protein, Pichia pastoris