King, A.N., Barber, A.F., Smith, A.E., Dreyer, A.P., Sitaraman, D., Nitabach, M.N., Cavanaugh, D.J., Sehgal, A. (2017). A Peptidergic Circuit Links the Circadian Clock to Locomotor Activity. Curr. Biol. 27(13): 1915--1927.e5.
FlyBase ID
FBrf0236052
Publication Type
Research paper
Abstract
The mechanisms by which clock neurons in the Drosophila brain confer an ∼24-hr rhythm onto locomotor activity are unclear, but involve the neuropeptide diuretic hormone 44 (DH44), an ortholog of corticotropin-releasing factor. Here we identified DH44 receptor 1 as the relevant receptor for rest:activity rhythms and mapped its site of action to hugin-expressing neurons in the subesophageal zone (SEZ). We traced a circuit that extends from Dh44-expressing neurons in the pars intercerebralis (PI) through hugin+ SEZ neurons to the ventral nerve cord. Hugin neuropeptide, a neuromedin U ortholog, also regulates behavioral rhythms. The DH44 PI-Hugin SEZ circuit controls circadian locomotor activity in a daily cycle but has minimal effect on feeding rhythms, suggesting that the circadian drive to feed can be separated from circadian locomotion. These findings define a linear peptidergic circuit that links the clock to motor outputs to modulate circadian control of locomotor activity.
