Abstract
Accumulating evidence indicates that the molecular circadian clock underlies the mating behavior of Drosophila melanogaster. However, information about which food components affect circadian mating behavior is scant. The ice plant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum has recently become a popular functional food. Here, we showed that the close-proximity (CP) rhythm of D. melanogaster courtship behavior was damped under low-nutrient conditions, but significantly enhanced by feeding the flies with powdered ice plant. Among various components of ice plants, we found that myo-inositol increased the amplitude and slightly shortened the period of the CP rhythm. Real-time reporter assays showed that myo-inositol and D-pinitol shortened the period of the circadian reporter gene Per2-luc in NIH 3T3 cells. These data suggest that the ice plant is a useful functional food and that the ability of inositols to shorten rhythms is a general phenomenon in insects as well as mammals.
Highlights
The physiology and behavior of many organisms can adapt to daily and seasonal environmental changes via circadian clocks that comprise an endogenous self-sustained timekeeping system (Dunlap, 1999)
Feeding with Ice Plant Powder Enhanced CP Rhythm of Drosophila Courtship Behavior The CP rhythms of heterosexual pairs of Oregon-R flies dipped at dusk under LD12:12 as described (Fujii et al, 2007; Hamasaka et al, 2010) and persisted under DD with a dip at subjective lights-off (CT12; Hamasaka et al, 2010)
Rhythmicity of Drosophila Courtship Behavior Requires the Clock Gene Period Since ice plant powder promoted the activity and amplitude of CP rhythms in wild-type flies, we investigated the effects of LNF containing 0.5% ice plant powder (LNFI) on period mutant, per0 flies
Summary
The physiology and behavior of many organisms can adapt to daily and seasonal environmental changes via circadian clocks that comprise an endogenous self-sustained timekeeping system (Dunlap, 1999). The molecular mechanisms of circadian clock genes that consist of transcriptional–translational feedback loops are conserved from flies to humans (Kako and Ishida, 1998). A core oscillator mechanism of circadian rhythm and feedback loops involving several clock genes such as including period (per) control locomotor activity and eclosion of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster (Dunlap, 1999). The relationships between behavioral rhythms and circadian clock genes have been studied in mutants of this fly with defective feedback loops. Accumulating evidence indicates that the circadian clock underlies the reproductive behavior of D. melanogaster (Beaver and Giebultowicz, 2004; Kadener et al, 2006). The circadian rhythm of mating succession is controlled by the clock genes, per and tim in Drosophila (Sakai and Ishida, 2001).
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