Abstract
The Drosophila circadian oscillator is composed of interlocked period/timeless (per/tim) and Clock (Clk) transcriptional feedback loops. These feedback loops drive rhythmic transcription having peaks at dawn and dusk during the daily cycle and function in the brain and a variety of peripheral tissues. To understand how the circadian oscillator keeps time and controls metabolic, physiological, and behavioral rhythms, we must determine how these feedback loops regulate rhythmic transcription, determine the relative importance of the per/tim and Clk feedback loops with regard to circadian oscillator function, and determine how these feedback loops come to be expressed in only certain tissues. Substantial insight into each of these issues has been gained from experiments performed in our lab and others and is summarized here.
Publication types
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Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
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Review
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / genetics
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Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / physiology
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CLOCK Proteins
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Circadian Rhythm / genetics*
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Circadian Rhythm / physiology*
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Drosophila / genetics*
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Drosophila / physiology*
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Drosophila Proteins / genetics
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Drosophila Proteins / physiology
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Feedback, Physiological
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Gene Expression Regulation
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Genes, Insect
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Models, Biological
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Nuclear Proteins / genetics
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Nuclear Proteins / physiology
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Period Circadian Proteins
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Tissue Distribution
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Transcription Factors / genetics
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Transcription Factors / physiology
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Transcription, Genetic
Substances
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Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors
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Clk protein, Drosophila
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Drosophila Proteins
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Nuclear Proteins
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PDP1 protein, Drosophila
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PER protein, Drosophila
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Period Circadian Proteins
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Transcription Factors
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tim protein, Drosophila
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CLOCK Proteins