CIRCADIAN NEURONS COMMUNICATE ACROSS DISTINCT REGIONS OF THE DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER BRAIN TO INSTRUCT ASPECTS OF BEHAVIOR

Abstract

The molecular mechanisms that govern behaviour are not well understood. Study of circadian behavior can offer insight while avoiding the complex process of learned behaviour. Circadian behaviors are rhythmic behavioural responses of an organism to planetary rhythms. Circadian behavior is regulated by a transcription negative feedback loop called the circadian clock. In Drosophila, the clock is housed in a neuronal network of nine clusters in each hemisphere of the brain. Genetic ablation studies suggest that parts of the circadian neuronal network help regulate different aspects of behavior, but a systematic analysis has not been done. We suggest that the circadian clock in these neurons and their neuronal activity regulate distinct aspects of circadian behavior. We are using the GAl4/UAS system to target neurons and systematically knockdown the circadian clock using interfering RNA (RNAi). We utilize another transgene to silence neuronal activity through the expression of a mutant potassium channel (Kir2.1). Monitoring the changes in circadian behavior after altering specific neurons allows us to build a comprehensive analysis correlating these behavioral changes such as locomotion with circadian clocks or active neurons. We aim to categorize how behaviour regulating information is produced (circadian clock) and relayed (neuronal activity) to produce circadian behavior.