S21
Circadian Clocks and Their Physiological Roles in Insects
Organizers:
Kenji Tomioka (Okayama Univ., Japan)
Elzbieta Pyza (Jagiellonian Univ., Poland)
Circadian rhythms are commonly observed in many physiological functions including vision, olfaction, learning and memory, and locomotor activity. The rhythms are regulated by an endogenous timing mechanism called a circadian clock. The circadian clock exerts its influences not only to daily but also to seasonally timed events. Recent studies revealed that the clock is based on the molecular oscillatory network consisting of so-called clock and clock-related genes and their product proteins. Recent progress in molecular studies makes it possible to understand clock-controlled systems at molecular and cellular levels. In this symposium, the circadian timing system and its influences on various physiological functions in insect models will be discussed at molecular and cellular levels.
Speakers:
1) Elzbieta Pyza (Jagiellonian Univ., Poland)
Circadian regulation of neuronal and glial cell activity and plasticity in the fly’s visual system.
2) Terry L. Page (Vanderbilt Univ., USA)
Circadian regulation of olfactory learning and memory.
3) Norio Ishida (AIST, Japan)
Molecular approach to understand circadian mating behavior of Drosophila.
4) Kenji Tomioka (Okayama Univ., Japan)
The circadian clock regulates physiological functions through a neuropeptide PDF in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus..
5) Sakiko Shiga (Osaka City Univ., Japan)
Circadian clock neurons presumably involved in photoperiodism in the blowfly Protophormia terraenovae.