Event Title

The Effects of Circadian period Mutations on Drosophila Behavioral and Biochemical Responses to Ethanol

Presenter Information

Jennifer Liao, Colby CollegeFollow

Location

Diamond 141

Start Date

30-4-2015 1:00 PM

End Date

30-4-2015 2:25 PM

Project Type

Presentation

Description

Circadian rhythms maintain an organisms daily sleep-wake cycle by conserved regulatory pathways, inducing profound effects in metabolic activity. Drosophila circadian period is maintained in a 24-hour cycle with peaks of activity at dawn and dusk. Ethanol exposure causes disruptions in a variety of physiological processes including circadian rhythms. We hypothesized that defects in circadian rhythm might lead to altered behavioral responses to ethanol and to disruptions in ethanol metabolism. To investigate this hypothesis, we used Drosophila strains bearing mutations in the period gene that result in circadian periods which are longer (perL) or shorter (perS) compared to wild type rhythms. We analyzed ethanol metabolism by measuring alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) activity, an enzyme that converts alcohol to aldehyde, and characterized behavioral responses to ethanol exposure by measuring sedation time, recovery from sedation, and tolerance after repeated exposure. This study will contribute to the understanding of ethanol exposure on circadian rhythm modulations in Drosophila, which may facilitate the explanation of ethanol intoxication consequences on human circadian changes.

Faculty Sponsor

Judy Stone

Sponsoring Department

Colby College. Biology Dept.

CLAS Field of Study

Natural Sciences

Event Website

http://www.colby.edu/clas

ID

1051

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Apr 30th, 1:00 PM Apr 30th, 2:25 PM

The Effects of Circadian period Mutations on Drosophila Behavioral and Biochemical Responses to Ethanol

Diamond 141

Circadian rhythms maintain an organisms daily sleep-wake cycle by conserved regulatory pathways, inducing profound effects in metabolic activity. Drosophila circadian period is maintained in a 24-hour cycle with peaks of activity at dawn and dusk. Ethanol exposure causes disruptions in a variety of physiological processes including circadian rhythms. We hypothesized that defects in circadian rhythm might lead to altered behavioral responses to ethanol and to disruptions in ethanol metabolism. To investigate this hypothesis, we used Drosophila strains bearing mutations in the period gene that result in circadian periods which are longer (perL) or shorter (perS) compared to wild type rhythms. We analyzed ethanol metabolism by measuring alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) activity, an enzyme that converts alcohol to aldehyde, and characterized behavioral responses to ethanol exposure by measuring sedation time, recovery from sedation, and tolerance after repeated exposure. This study will contribute to the understanding of ethanol exposure on circadian rhythm modulations in Drosophila, which may facilitate the explanation of ethanol intoxication consequences on human circadian changes.

https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2015/program/232