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Main Authors: Häfker, N Sören, Meyer, Bettina, Last, Kim, Pond, David W, Hüppe, Lukas, Teschke, Mathias
Format: Dataset Open Access
Language:en
Published: PANGAEA 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.875739
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author Häfker, N Sören
Meyer, Bettina
Last, Kim
Pond, David W
Hüppe, Lukas
Teschke, Mathias
author_facet Häfker, N Sören
Meyer, Bettina
Last, Kim
Pond, David W
Hüppe, Lukas
Teschke, Mathias
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents Genetic clocks are a ubiquitous ancient and adaptive mechanism enabling organisms to anticipate environmental rhythms and to regulate behavioral, physiological and behavioral processes accordingly. Whilst terrestrial circadian clocks are well studied and understood, knowledge about the clock systems in marine organisms is still limited. This is particularly true for abundant species displaying large-scale rhythms like diel vertical migration (DVM) that contribute significantly to shaping their respective ecosystems. Here, we describe endogenous and highly rhythmic patterns in the biology of the ecologically important and highly abundant planktic copepod Calanus finmarchicus. This species shows circadian rhythms of DVM, metabolism, and most core circadian clock genes (clock, period1, period2, timeless, cryptochrome2, clockwork orange) in the laboratory. In the field, copepods from shallow water (0-50m) have more robust rhythmic clock gene oscillations than those caught in deeper water (140-50m). Further, peak expressions of clock genes generally occurred at either sunset or sunrise coinciding with peak migration times. Providing one of the first field investigations of clock gene rhythmicity in a marine species this study further couples clock genes measurements with laboratory and field data on DVM. While the mechanistic connection remains elusive, our results imply a high degree of causality between clock gene expression and one of the planet's largest daily migration of biomass. This could increase zooplankton fitness by optimizing the temporal trade-off between feeding and predator avoidance.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_875739
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2017
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Circadian clock involvement in zooplankton diel vertical migration, link to supplementary material
Häfker, N Sören
Meyer, Bettina
Last, Kim
Pond, David W
Hüppe, Lukas
Teschke, Mathias

Genetic clocks are a ubiquitous ancient and adaptive mechanism enabling organisms to anticipate environmental rhythms and to regulate behavioral, physiological and behavioral processes accordingly. Whilst terrestrial circadian clocks are well studied and understood, knowledge about the clock systems in marine organisms is still limited. This is particularly true for abundant species displaying large-scale rhythms like diel vertical migration (DVM) that contribute significantly to shaping their respective ecosystems. Here, we describe endogenous and highly rhythmic patterns in the biology of the ecologically important and highly abundant planktic copepod Calanus finmarchicus. This species shows circadian rhythms of DVM, metabolism, and most core circadian clock genes (clock, period1, period2, timeless, cryptochrome2, clockwork orange) in the laboratory. In the field, copepods from shallow water (0-50m) have more robust rhythmic clock gene oscillations than those caught in deeper water (140-50m). Further, peak expressions of clock genes generally occurred at either sunset or sunrise coinciding with peak migration times. Providing one of the first field investigations of clock gene rhythmicity in a marine species this study further couples clock genes measurements with laboratory and field data on DVM. While the mechanistic connection remains elusive, our results imply a high degree of causality between clock gene expression and one of the planet's largest daily migration of biomass. This could increase zooplankton fitness by optimizing the temporal trade-off between feeding and predator avoidance.
title Circadian clock involvement in zooplankton diel vertical migration, link to supplementary material
topic
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.875739