Timing the tides: Genetic control of diurnal and lunar emergence times is correlated in the marine midge Clunio marinus

BMC Genetics

Research Article

David G Heckel¹  Tobias S Kaiser²  Dietrich Neumann³ 

[1] Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745, Jena, Germany;Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745, Jena, Germany;Max F. Perutz Laboratories, Dr. Bohr-Gasse 9, 1030, Wien, Austria;Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Biozentrum, Zülpicher Straße 47-B, 50674, Köln, Germany;

关键词: Circadian Clock;    Emergence Time;    Spring Tide;    Full Moon;    Circadian Oscillator;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2156-12-49

 received in 2010-11-23, accepted in 2011-05-20,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe intertidal zone of seacoasts, being affected by the superimposed tidal, diurnal and lunar cycles, is temporally the most complex environment on earth. Many marine organisms exhibit lunar rhythms in reproductive behaviour and some show experimental evidence of endogenous control by a circalunar clock, the molecular and genetic basis of which is unexplored. We examined the genetic control of lunar and diurnal rhythmicity in the marine midge Clunio marinus (Chironomidae, Diptera), a species for which the correct timing of adult emergence is critical in natural populations.ResultsWe crossed two strains of Clunio marinus that differ in the timing of the diurnal and lunar rhythms of emergence. The phenotype distribution of the segregating backcross progeny indicates polygenic control of the lunar emergence rhythm. Diurnal timing of emergence is also under genetic control, and is influenced by two unlinked genes with major effects. Furthermore, the lunar and diurnal timing of emergence is correlated in the backcross generation. We show that both the lunar emergence time and its correlation to the diurnal emergence time are adaptive for the species in its natural environment.ConclusionsThe correlation implies that the unlinked genes affecting lunar timing and the two unlinked genes affecting diurnal timing could be the same, providing an unexpectedly close interaction of the two clocks. Alternatively, the genes could be genetically linked in a two-by-two fashion, suggesting that evolution has shaped the genetic architecture to stabilize adaptive combinations of lunar and diurnal emergence times by tightening linkage. Our results, the first on genetic control of lunar rhythms, offer a new perspective to explore their molecular clockwork.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Kaiser et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011