The genomic basis of circadian and circalunar timing adaptations in a midge

Tobias S. Kaiser (), Birgit Poehn, David Szkiba, Marco Preussner, Fritz J. Sedlazeck, Alexander Zrim, Tobias Neumann, Lam-Tung Nguyen, Andrea J. Betancourt, Thomas Hummel, Heiko Vogel, Silke Dorner, Florian Heyd, Arndt von Haeseler and Kristin Tessmar-Raible ()
Additional contact information
Tobias S. Kaiser: Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter
Birgit Poehn: Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter
David Szkiba: Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna
Marco Preussner: Chemistry, Pharmacy, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Fritz J. Sedlazeck: Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna
Alexander Zrim: Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna
Tobias Neumann: Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter
Lam-Tung Nguyen: Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna
Andrea J. Betancourt: Institute of Population Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
Thomas Hummel: Research Platform ‘Rhythms of Life’, University of Vienna
Heiko Vogel: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
Silke Dorner: Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter
Florian Heyd: Chemistry, Pharmacy, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Arndt von Haeseler: Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna
Kristin Tessmar-Raible: Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Campus Vienna Biocenter

Nature, 2016, vol. 540, issue 7631, 69-73

Abstract: Abstract Organisms use endogenous clocks to anticipate regular environmental cycles, such as days and tides. Natural variants resulting in differently timed behaviour or physiology, known as chronotypes in humans, have not been well characterized at the molecular level. We sequenced the genome of Clunio marinus, a marine midge whose reproduction is timed by circadian and circalunar clocks. Midges from different locations show strain-specific genetic timing adaptations. We examined genetic variation in five C. marinus strains from different locations and mapped quantitative trait loci for circalunar and circadian chronotypes. The region most strongly associated with circadian chronotypes generates strain-specific differences in the abundance of calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II.1 (CaMKII.1) splice variants. As equivalent variants were shown to alter CaMKII activity in Drosophila melanogaster, and C. marinus (Cma)-CaMKII.1 increases the transcriptional activity of the dimer of the circadian proteins Cma-CLOCK and Cma-CYCLE, we suggest that modulation of alternative splicing is a mechanism for natural adaptation in circadian timing.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/nature20151

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