Genetics and Molecular Biology of Rhythms in Drosophila and Other Insects

Biological rhythms, such as the sleep-wake cycle or circadian clock, are an intriguing aspect of biology. The regulation of daily rhythmicity has long been a mystery, up until the mid-1980's when a key gene in the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, was molecularly identified. Genetic and molecular chronobiology of Drosophila has been a driving force in this field of inquiry ever since. Genetics and Molecular Biology of Rhythms in Drosophila and Other Insects describes and evaluates all of the studies of this sort, discussing the manner by which these investigations have spread out in various directions of rhythmic biology, including genetic and molecular approaches used on other insect species.

Discusses rhythm genetics in insects, from early investigations to current state-of-the-artPresents all relevant mutants and genesHighlights the mystery of the "clock mechanism" in full detail including the remaining puzzles to be solved

Introduction; Mutants Used to Identify Cells and Tissues that Mediate Inputs to Circadian Pacemakers in Drosophila; Mutatants Apparently Defective in Central-Pacemaking Functions Underlying Drosophila's Circadian Rhythmicity; Additional Mutants Found in Screen for Rhythm Variants; Additional Mutants with Defects in Daily Cycles and other Time-Based Phenotypes; Molecular Genetics of Central-Pacemaking Functions; Places and Times of Clock-Gene Expressions; Natural Variants of Clock Genes, Including Interspecific Studies; Temperature Changes and how Clock-Gene Products are Involved in Compensating for Them; Molecular Genetics of Clock Re-Setting by Environmental Stimuli; Gene-Defined Functions Connecting Central Pacemaking to Circadian Chronobiology; Conclusion