Abstract:
Our lab is interested in the endogenous mechanisms that allow organisms to cope with environmental cycles. We work primarily on the circadian clock, which allows most
organisms to deal with the day/night cycle. We will present recent work aimed at identifying proteins that determine the activity of Drosophila circadian neurons and thus control rhythmic behavior. We have also recently developed the crustacean P. hawaiensis as the first genetically tractable model for the study of circatidal clocks, which allow marine organisms to track and adapt to tidal cycles. We will present our current efforts to define the components of the circatidal clock using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing.