title: Association between circadian clock genes and diapause incidence in Drosophila triauraria.
abstract: Diapause is an adaptive response triggered by seasonal photoperiodicity to overcome unfavorable seasons. The photoperiodic clock is a system that controls seasonal physiological processes, but our knowledge about its physiological mechanisms and genetic architecture remains incomplete. The circadian clock is another system that controls daily rhythmic physiological phenomena. It has been argued that there is a connection between the two clocks. To examine the genetic connection between them, we analyzed the associations of five circadian clock genes (period, timeless, Clock, cycle and cryptochrome) with the occurrence of diapause in Drosophila triauraria, which shows a robust reproductive diapause with clear photoperiodicity. Non-diapause strains found in low latitudes were compared in genetic crosses with the diapause strain, in which the diapause trait is clearly dominant. Single nucleotide polymorphism and deletion analyses of the five circadian clock genes in backcross progeny revealed that allelic differences in timeless and cryptochrome between the strains were additively associated with the differences in the incidence of diapause. This suggests that there is a molecular link between certain circadian clock genes and the occurrence of diapause.
authors.affiliation: Drosophila Genetic Resource Center, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Masa-Toshi
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D056930:ARNTL Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D056926:CLOCK Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D056931:Cryptochromes / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D056950:Period Circadian Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D017440:Photoperiod; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D056930:ARNTL Transcription Factors; C120526:Clk protein, Drosophila; D056931:Cryptochromes; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins; C539040:PER protein, Drosophila; D056950:Period Circadian Proteins; C119828:cry protein, Drosophila; C112805:cyc protein, Drosophila; C096445:tim protein, Drosophila; D056926:CLOCK Proteins