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Circadian rhythms

No lazing on sunny afternoons

Nature volume 484, pages 325–326 (2012)Cite this article

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In the laboratory, fruitflies rely on an internal clock to alternate activity with a midday nap and night-time sleep. Surprisingly, when outdoors, they follow temperature rather than the clock, and skip siestas. See Letter p.371

Circadian clocks are biological mechanisms that allow living organisms to adapt their physiology and behaviour to day–night cycles. In particular, a neuronal circadian clock controls rhythms of rest and activity in many animal species, including the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster. In laboratory conditions, this insect shows a bimodal activity profile, with maximal activity concentrated in the morning and evening. However, the artificial light–dark cycles used in lab experiments only roughly mimic the complex environmental changes associated with alternating day and night. Vanin et al.1 report on page 371 of this issue that fruitflies indeed behave very differently when exposed to more natural conditions. Moreover, the authors' results challenge the widely held idea that light and the known elements of the circadian clock are the main players that shape rest–activity rhythms.

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Figure 1: Rest–activity rhythms in fruitflies.

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  1. François Rouyer is at the Institut de Neurobiologie Alfred Fessard, CNRS UPR 3294, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.,

    François Rouyer

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Correspondence to François Rouyer.

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Rouyer, F. No lazing on sunny afternoons. Nature 484, 325–326 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/484325a

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