Temperature compensation of the circadian oscillation in Drosophila pseudoobscura and its entrainment by temperature cycles

All known circadian clocks have an endogenous period that is remarkably insensitive to temperature, a property known as temperature compensation, while at the same time being readily entrained by a diurnal temperature oscillation. Although temperature compensation and entrainment are defining features of circadian clocks, their mechanisms remain poorly understood. Most models presume that multiple steps in the circadian cycle are temperature-dependent, thus facilitating temperature entrainment, but then insist that the effect of changes around the cycle sums to zero to enforce temperature compensation. An alternative theory proposes that the circadian oscillator evolved from an adaptive temperature sensor: a gene circuit that responds only to temperature changes. This theory implies that temperature changes should linearly rescale the amplitudes of clock component oscillations but leave phase relationships and shapes unchanged. We show using timeless luciferase reporter measurements and Western blots against TIMELESS protein that this prediction is satisfied by the Drosophila circadian clock. We also review evidence for pathways that couple temperature to the circadian clock, and show previously unidentified evidence for coupling between the Drosophila clock and the heat-shock pathway.circadian clock | temperature compensation | mathematical models C ircadian rhythms are daily oscillations in gene expression and protein concentration that regulate sleep (1, 2), metabolism (3,4), and a host of other biological processes (5-8). Circadian oscillations are known to be present in nearly all animals and plants, as well as some fungi and bacteria (9). In all organisms in which circadian oscillations have been observed, circadian oscillations satisfy three defining properties (10). First, circadian oscillations are self-sustained and spontaneously maintain a period of about 24 h. Second, the circadian rhythm is sensitive to light and temperature and can be synchronized to external oscillations in the quantity of either. Third, the period of the circadian oscillation is "temperature-compensated"; that is, the endogenous period of the oscillation is relatively insensitive to temperature.The genetic basis of circadian clocks has been elucidated in considerable detail over the past two decades, particularly in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, the mouse Mus musculus, and the bread mold Neurospora crassa (11). In Drosophila, a self-sustained circadian oscillation in neurons is generated when a pair of proteins, PERIOD (PER) and TIMELESS (TIM), dimerize and, after some delay, translocate into the nucleus, where the proteins repress their own transcription by inactivating a transcription factor dimer composed of the proteins CLOCK and CYCLE. Light sensitivity is mediated by the blue light photoreceptor CRYPTOCHROME (CRY), which upon activation binds TIMELESS and promotes TIMELESS degradation. A remarkably similar mechanism underlies circadian clocks in mouse and Neurospora. The circadian clock of cyanobacteria has also bee...

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…This was also suggested by experiments in ref. 60, which found that a specifically cold-sensitive RNA-binding protein influences circadian transcription in mice, as well as prior work examining circadian responses to cold temperatures (61,62).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Temperature compensation and temperature sensation in the circadian clock

Kidd

Young

Siggia

2015

“…An extensive study of the eclosion rhythm of Drosophila pseudoobscura (17) demonstrated that entrainment by temperature can be ascribed to phase shifting by discontinuous temperature changes (both step-up and step-down). The fact that the rhythm could be predicted by accumulation of phase shifting at a given step strongly supports nonparametric or discontinuous entrainment in Drosophila.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the nonparametric entrainment model, phase shifting by temperature pulse is assumed to be the sum of phase shifts caused by step-up and step-down. In fact, phase shift of the Drosophila eclosion rhythm by hightemperature pulse can be deduced from a sum of step-up and step-down phase shifts (17). If a phase shift by temperature step-up is completed before step-down, the phase shift h( ) of the high-temperature pulse at phase is calculated by the following equation:…”

Section: Phase Shifting Of the Kaic Phosphorylation Rhythm By Temperamentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonparametric entrainment of the in vitro circadian phosphorylation rhythm of cyanobacterial KaiC by temperature cycle

Yoshida

Murayama

Ito

et al. 2009

The three cyanobacterial Kai proteins and ATP are capable of generating an autonomous rhythm of KaiC phosphorylation in a test tube. As the period is Ϸ24 hours and is stable in a wide temperature range, this rhythm is thought to function as the basic oscillator of the cyanobacterial circadian system. We have examined the rhythm under various temperature cycles and found that it was stably entrained by a temperature cycle of 20 -28 hours. As the period length was not altered by temperature, entrainment by period change could be excluded from possible mechanisms. Instead, temperature steps between 30°and 45°C and vice versa shifted the phase of the rhythm in a phase-dependent manner. Based on the phase response curves of the step-up and step-down in temperature, phase shift by single temperature pulse was estimated using a nonparametric entrainment model (discontinuous phase jump by external stimuli). The predicted phase shift was consistent with the experimentally measured phase shift. Next, successive phase shifts caused by repeated temperature cycles were computed by two phase response curves and compared with actual entrainment of the rhythm. As the entrainment pattern observed after various combinations of temperature cycles matched the prediction, it is likely that nonparametric entrainment functions even in the simple three-protein system. We also analyzed entrainment of KaiC phosphorylation by temperature cycle in cyanobacterial cells and found both the parametric and the nonparametric models function in vivo.circadian clock ͉ KaiC phosphorylation rhythm ͉ Phase response ͉ temperature entrainment

“…Indeed, Pittendrigh proposed the existence of a temperatureinsensitive component in the clock system in 1954 (7), and in 1968, he and his colleagues demonstrated that both the wave form and the period of circadian oscillations are invariant with temperature (23). However, the idea of a temperatureinsensitive biochemical reaction is counterintuitive, as elementary chemical processes are highly temperature-sensitive.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

CKIε/δ-dependent phosphorylation is a temperature-insensitive, period-determining process in the mammalian circadian clock

Isojima

Nakajima

Ukai

et al. 2009

237

271

T he circadian clock is a molecular mechanism underlying endogenous, self-sustained oscillations with a period of Ϸ24 h, manifested in diverse physiological and metabolic processes (1-3). The most striking feature of circadian clock is its flexible yet robust response to various environmental conditions. For example, circadian periodicity varies with light intensity (4-6) while remaining robust over a wide range of temperatures (''temperature compensation'') (1, 3, 7-9). This flexible-yetrobust characteristic is evolutionarily conserved in organisms ranging from photosynthetic bacteria to warm-blooded mammals (3, 10-12), and has interested researchers from a broad range of disciplines. However, despite many genetic and molecular studies (13-22), the detailed biochemical mechanism underlying this characteristic remains poorly elucidated (3).The simplest explanation for this flexible-yet-robust property is that the key period-determining reactions are insensitive to temperature but responsive to other environmental conditions. Indeed, Pittendrigh proposed the existence of a temperatureinsensitive component in the clock system in 1954 (7), and in 1968, he and his colleagues demonstrated that both the wave form and the period of circadian oscillations are invariant with temperature (23). However, the idea of a temperatureinsensitive biochemical reaction is counterintuitive, as elementary chemical processes are highly temperature-sensitive. One exception is the cyanobacterial clock, in which temperatureinsensitive enzymatic reactions are observed (24,25). However, the cyanobacterial clock is quite distinct from other clock systems, and this biochemical mechanism has not been demonstrated in other clocks.Recently, a chemical-biological approach was proposed to help elucidate the basic processes underlying circadian clocks (26), and high-throughput screening of a large chemical compound library was performed (27). In this report, to analyze systematically the fundamental processes involved in determining the period length of mammalian clocks, we tested 1,260 pharmacologically active compounds for their effect on period length in mouse and human clock cell lines, and found 10 compounds that most markedly lengthened the period of both clock cell lines affected both the central and peripheral circadian clocks. Most compounds inhibited CKI or CKI␦ activity, suggesting that CKI /␦-dependent phosphorylation is an important period-determining process in the mammalian circadian clock. Surprisingly, the degradation rate of endogenous PER2, which is regulated by CKI -dependent phosphorylation (28) and probably by CKI␦-dependent phosphorylation, was temperatureinsensitive in the living clock cells, and the temperatureinsensitivity was preserved even for the in vitro CKI /␦-dependent phosphorylation of a synthetic peptide derived from PER2. These results suggest that this period-determining process is flexible in response to chemical perturbation yet robust in the face of temperature perturbations. Based on these findings, we prop...