Abstract
In the 1970s, the intriguing discovery of autonomous circadian rhythmicity at the behavioral level in Drosophila set the starting point for one of the most remarkably rapid advancements in the understanding of the genetic and molecular bases of a complex behavioral trait. To this end, the design of appropriate electronic devices, apt to continuously monitor behavioral activity, has proven to be fundamental to such progress. In particular, most of the mutational screens performed to date in the search for genes involved in circadian rhythmicity were based on monitoring Drosophila mutants for alterations in the circadian pattern of locomotor activity. Many different experimental paradigms, based on the use of circadian locomotor activity monitors, have been developed. Experiments can be designed to determine (1) the natural period, (2) the capacity to adapt to day-night cycles with photoperiods of differing length, and (3) the phase of the circadian activity cycles with respect to the entraining stimulus. Here we describe some of the rationale and the steps required to set up experiments to monitor circadian locomotor activity in Drosophila. Suggestions for the statistical analysis of the data obtained in such experiments are also provided.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsSpringer Nature is developing a new tool to find and evaluate Protocols. Learn more
References
Konopka, R. J., and Benzer, S. (1971) Clock mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 68,, 2112–2116.
Martin, J-R., Ernst, R., and Heisenberg, M. (1999) Temporal pattern of locomotor activity in Drosophila melanogaster. J. Comp. Physiol. 184, 73–84.
Martin, J-R. (2003) Locomotor activity: a complex behavioural trait to unravel. Behavioural Processes 24, 145–160.
Shaw, P. J., Cirelli, C., Greenspan, R., and Tononi, G. (2000) Correlates of sleep and waking in Drosophila melanogaster. Science 287, 1834–1837.
Sehgal, A., Price, J. L., Man, B., and Young, M.W. (1994) Loss of circadian behavioural rhythms and per RNA oscillations in the Drosophila mutant timeless. Science 263, 1603–1606.
Yang, Z., and Sehgal, A. (2001) Role of molecular oscillations in generating behavioural rhythms in Drosophila. Neuron 29, 453–467.
Emery, P., So, W. V., Kaneko, M., Hall, J. C., and Rosbash, M. (1998) CRY, a Drosophila clock and light-regulated cryptochrome, is a major contributor to circadian rhythm resetting and photosensitivity. Cell 95, 669–679.
Hamblen, M. J., White, N. E., Emery, P. T., Kaiser, K., and Hall, J. C. (1998) Molecular and behavioral analysis of four period mutants in Drosophila melanogaster encompassing extreme short, novel long, and unorthodox arrhythmic types. Genetics 149, 165–178.
Allada, R., White, N. E., So, W. V., Hall, J. C., and Rosbash, M. (1998) A mutant Drosophila homolog of mammalian clock disrupts circadian rhythms and transcription of period and timeless. Cell 93, 791–804.
Ashburner, M. (1989) Drosophila. A Laboratory Handbook. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY.
Roberts, D. B. (1998) Drosophila: A Practical Approach (2nd Ed.). The practical approach series (Hames, B. D., series ed.). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
Helfrich-Forster, C. (2000) Differential control of morning and evening components in the activity rhythm of Drosophila melanogaster—sex-specific differences suggest a different quality of activity. J. Biol. Rhythms 15, 135–154.
Gatti, S., Ferveur, J-F., and Martin, J-R. (2000) Genetic identification of neurons controlling a sexually dimorphic behaviour. Curr. Biol. 10, 667–670.
Sawyer, L. A., Hennessy, J. M., Peixoto, A. A., et al. (1997) Natural variation in a Drosophila clock gene and temperature compensation. Science 278, 2117–21120.
Rensing, L., Mohsenzadeh, S., Ruoff, P., and Meyer, U. (1997) Temperature compensation of the circadian period length—a special case among general homeostatic mechanisms of gene expression? Chronobiol. Int. 14, 481–498.
Majercak, J., Sidote, D., Hardin, P. E., and Edery, I. (1999) How a circadian clock adapts to seasonal decreases in temperature and day length. Neuron 24, 219–230.
Zordan, M. A., Osterwalder, N., Rosato, E., and Costa, R. (2001) Evidence for extraocular and red light-mediated photic entrainment in Drosophila melanogaster. J. Neurogenet. 15, 1–20.
Zordan, M. A., Rosato, E., Piccin, A., and Foster, R. (2001) Photic entrainment of the circadian clock: from Drosophila to mammals. Semin. Cell Devel. Biol. 12, 317–328.
Johnson, C. H., Elliott, J. A., and Foster, R. (2003) Entrainment of circadian programs. Chronobiol. Int. 20, 741–774.
Ryer, A. D. (1996) Light Measurement Handbook [On-line.] Available at http://www.intl-light.com/customer/handbook/. Last accessed: June 12, 2006.
Robert, D. H., Lehar, J., and Dreher, J. W. (1987) Time series analysis with CLEAN. I. Derivation of spectra. Astron. J. 93, 968–989.
Negi, J. G., Tiwari, R. K., and Rao, K. N. N. (1996) Clean periodicity in secular variations of dolomite abundance in deep marine sediments. Marine Geology 133, 113–121.
Taylor, F. J. (1994) Principles of Signals and Systems. McGraw-Hill, Singapore.
Levine, J. D., Funes, P., Dowse, H. B., and Hall, J. C. (2002) Signal analysis of behavioural and molecular cycles. BMC Neuroscience 3, 1.
R Development Core Team. (2003) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-00-3, http://www.r-project.org. Las accessed: June 12, 2006.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Humana Press Inc.
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Zordan, M.A., Benna, C., Mazzotta, G. (2007). Monitoring and Analyzing Drosophila Circadian Locomotor Activity. In: Rosato, E. (eds) Circadian Rhythms. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 362. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-257-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-257-1_4
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-417-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-257-1
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols