Circadian Remodeling Of Neuronal Circuits Involved In Rhythmic Behavior

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 25 Mar 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Circadian systems evolved as a mechanism that allows organisms to adapt to the environmental changes in light and dark which occur as a consequence of the rotation of the Earth.

Because of its unique repertoire of genetic tools, Drosophila is a well established model for the study of the circadian clock. Although the biochemical components underlying the molecular oscillations have been characterized in detail, the mechanisms used by the clock neurons to convey information to the downstream pathways remain elusive. In the fruit fly, the small ventral lateral neurons (sLNvs) are capable of synchronizing other clock cells relying on a neuropeptide named pigment dispersing factor (PDF). In this work Maria Fernández, Jimena Berni, and Maria Ceriani introduce in this week's PLoS Biology a novel mechanism as a possible candidate for contributing to the transmission of information downstream of the sLNvs, involving clock-controlled remodeling of their axonal morphology.

By labeling the entire neuronal membrane and analyzing the complexity of the axonal arbor at different times they have shown that there is a circadian variation in the complexity of the axonal arbor. This phenomenon was not observed in flies carrying null mutations in two canonical clock genes, underscoring the dependence of the circadian clock for the structural plasticity of its pacemaker neurons.

Circadian remodeling of neuronal circuits involved in rhythmic behavior.
Fernandez MP, Berni J, Ceriani MF (2008)
PLoS Biol 6(3): e69. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio. 0060069
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