Circadian neuron feedback controls the Drosophila sleep–activity profile

Fang Guo, Junwei Yu, Hyung Jae Jung, Katharine C. Abruzzi, Weifei Luo, Leslie C. Griffith and Michael Rosbash ()
Additional contact information
Fang Guo: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University
Junwei Yu: National Center for Behavioral Genomics and Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University
Hyung Jae Jung: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University
Katharine C. Abruzzi: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University
Weifei Luo: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University
Leslie C. Griffith: National Center for Behavioral Genomics and Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University
Michael Rosbash: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University

Nature, 2016, vol. 536, issue 7616, 292-297

Abstract: Abstract Little is known about the ability of Drosophila circadian neurons to promote sleep. Here we show, using optogenetic manipulation and video recording, that a subset of dorsal clock neurons (DN1s) are potent sleep-promoting cells that release glutamate to directly inhibit key pacemaker neurons. The pacemakers promote morning arousal by activating these DN1s, implying that a late-day feedback circuit drives midday siesta and night-time sleep. To investigate more plastic aspects of the sleep program, we used a calcium assay to monitor and compare the real-time activity of DN1 neurons in freely behaving males and females. Our results revealed that DN1 neurons were more active in males than in females, consistent with the finding that male flies sleep more during the day. DN1 activity is also enhanced by elevated temperature, consistent with the ability of higher temperatures to increase sleep. These new approaches indicate that DN1s have a major effect on the fly sleep–wake profile and integrate environmental information with the circadian molecular program.

Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature19097 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:536:y:2016:i:7616:d:10.1038_nature19097

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature19097

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().