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Circadian Expression of Clock Genes in Two Mosquito Disease Vectors: cry2 Is Different

Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz -FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Gustavo B. S. Rivas

Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz -FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Antonio C. A. Meireles-Filho

Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz -FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

José B. P. Lima

Laboratório de Fisiologia e Controle de Artrópodes Vetores, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ & Instituto de Biologia do Exército, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Alexandre A. Peixoto

Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz -FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, apeixoto{at}fiocruz.br

Different mosquito species show a full range of activity patterns, including diurnal, crepuscular, and nocturnal behaviors. Although activity and blood-feeding rhythms are controlled by the circadian clock, it is not yet known whether such species-specific differences in behavior are controlled directly by core clock genes or instead reflect differences in how the information of the central clock is translated into output signals. The authors have analyzed the circadian expression of clock genes in two important mosquito vectors of tropical diseases, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus . Although these two species show very different locomotor activity patterns and are estimated to have diverged more than 22 million years ago, they show conserved circadian expression patterns for all major cycling clock genes except mammalian-like cryptochrome2 (cry2). The results indicate that different mechanisms for cry2 regulation may exist for the two species. The authors speculate that the correlation between the differences in behavior between Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus and their corresponding cry2 mRNA profiles suggests a potential role for this clock gene in controlling species-specific rhythmic behavior. However, further work is needed to establish that this is the case as the different cry2 expression patterns might reflect differences between the Aedes and Culex lineages that are not directly related to changes in behavior.

Key Words: circadian rhythms • clock genes • cry2 • Aedes aegypti • Culex quinquefasciatus • mosquitoes • tropical diseases

Journal of Biological Rhythms, Vol. 24, No. 6, 444-451 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0748730409349169


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