Chronobiology
Author: Sabrina Riva | Email: sabririva21@gmail.com
Sabrina Riva1°, Sebatián Risau-Gusman1°, D.Lorena Franco1°
1° Medical Physics Department, Bariloche Atomic Center, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA) and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
Most organisms are capable of coordinating their physiology and behavior with the 24 hours of day/night cycling generated by the Earth´s rotation. These biological rhythms are driven by molecular clocks that are conserved across animals. In the Drosophila brain this molecular circadian clock is expressed in ~150 neurons, which are organized in different clusters based in gene expression, anatomy and localization. These clusters are: ventrolateral neurons (LNv; encompassing the small and large LNv groups), dorsolateral neurons (LNd), lateral posterior (LPN), and dorsal neurons [DN; separated in DN1, 2, and 3]. Egg-laying is one of the most important female behaviors since it has a profound impact on the fitness of a species. Egg laying is largely governed by successful mating, but is also influenced by circadian clock. Previous results from our lab have shown that LNds clock/neurons have a leading role in the control of oviposition. To further study the functional role of these neurons in the control of egg-laying rhythm, in this work, we will manipulate their activity in an adult-specific manner and evaluate their involvement in oviposition rhythm.