The local adaptation of the circadian clock's temperature compensation in Neurospora

In the current study, we have tested the hypothesis that temperature compensation (TC) of the circadian clock plays a role in local adaptation. To test this hypothesis, we chose strains of Neurospora collected from different latitudes; Alaska (high) and Ivory Coast (low). To examine the molecular oscillator of these selected strains, we transformed the natural strains with a translational luciferase reporter of the key clock gene FREQUENCY (FRQ). To examine the developmental overt rhythm, we used the inverted race tube assay. Q10 values of the molecular periods and the developmental periods of each strain have been calculated, and used as a quantitative measure of TC. Our data suggest that the molecular oscillators of natural strains collected from different latitudes do not differ from one another, and their Q10 values are relatively similar to each other. However, we found that the developmental overt rhythms have different period and Q10 values and a period among the strains studied. The periods and Q10 values of developmental rhythm are also more variable when compared to those of the molecular rhythm. Taken our results together, we concluded that 1) TC plays a role in adaptation, 2) the adaptation occurred at either the output of the clock or at the coupling mechanism between the oscillator, and 3) the adaptation occurred at the developmental rhythm rather than the molecular oscillatorM.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby James Hozie