Entraining to the polar day: circadian rhythms in arctic ground squirrels.

Abstract

Circadian systems are principally entrained to 24 h light-dark cycles, but this cue is seasonally absent in polar environments. Although some resident polar vertebrates have weak circadian clocks and are seasonally arrhythmic, the arctic ground squirrel (AGS) maintains daily rhythms of physiology and behavior throughout the summer, which includes 6weeks of constant daylight. Here, we show that persistent daily rhythms in AGS are maintained through a circadian system that readily entrains to the polar day yet remains insensitive to entrainment by rapid light-dark transitions, which AGS generate naturally as a consequence of their semi-fossorial behavior. Additionally, AGS do not show 'jet lag', the slow realignment of circadian rhythms induced by the inertia of an intrinsically stable master circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). We suggest this is due to the low expression of arginine vasopressin in the SCN of AGS, as vasopressin is associated with inter-neuronal coupling and robust rhythmicity.