Measuring circadian rhythms in olfaction using electroantennograms.
Circadian clocks control daily rhythms in many behavioral, physiological, and metabolic processes. Despite remarkable advances in our understanding of the circadian timekeeping mechanism and how it responds to environmental cycles, relatively little is known about how the timekeeping mechanism regulates behavior, physiology, and metabolism. One of the most extensively characterized timekeeping mechanisms is that of Drosophila melanogaster. In this species, autonomous circadian clocks are found in many neuronal and nonneuronal tissues, including essentially all sensory structures. We have shown that sensory neurons in the antenna mediate a robust rhythm in electrophysiological responses to the food odorant ethyl acetate. This article describes how rhythms in olfactory responses are measured and provides a perspective on the generality of these rhythms and their regulation by the clock.
Krishnan
Parthasarathy
P
Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA.
Dryer
Stuart E
SE
Hardin
Paul E
PE
D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D013493:Suprachiasmatic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology