The advantages of the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, including low genetic
redundancy, functional simplicity, and the ability to conduct large-scale genetic screens …

A genetic screen for mutants that alter circadian rhythms in Drosophila identified the first
clock gene—the period (per) gene. The per gene is a central player within a transcriptional …

Nowadays humans mainly rely on external, unnatural clocks such as of cell phones and
alarm clocks–driven by circuit boards and electricity. Nevertheless, our body is under the …

Light is the most important Zeitgeber for entraining animal activity rhythms to the 24-h day. In
all animals, the eyes are the main visual organs that are not only responsible for motion and …

Since 1960, magnetic fields have been discussed as Zeitgebers for circadian clocks, but the
mechanism by which clocks perceive and process magnetic information has remained …

Light-responsive neural activity in central brain neurons is generally conveyed through
opsin-based signaling from external photoreceptors. Large lateral ventral arousal neurons …

The brain of Drosophila melanogaster contains∼ 150 circadian neurons [1] functionally
divided into morning and evening cells that control peaks in daily behavioral activity at dawn …

Background Daily behaviors in animals are determined by the interplay between internal
timing signals from circadian clocks and environmental stimuli such as light. How these …

Drosophila's dorsal clock neurons (DNs) consist of four clusters (DN1as, DN1ps, DN2s, and
DN3s) that largely differ in size. While the DN1as and the DN2s encompass only two …

Circadian clocks are synchronized by the natural day/night and temperature cycles. Our
previous work demonstrated that synchronization by temperature is a tissue autonomous …