Evolutionary mechanisms of circadian clocks

G. Rodrigo (1) , J. Carrera (1) , A. Jaramillo (2)

1 Depto. de Matematica Aplicada
2 BIOC - Laboratoire de Biochimie de l'Ecole polytechnique

An intriguing question in biology is to know how circadian molecular networks could have evolved their particular topologies to adjust to a daily period. We analyze the mechanism of the evolution of such networks by using a computational design strategy that allows for the generation of synthetic networks with a targeted 24 hours oscillation. We have performed a systematic analysis of all possible two-gene network topologies based on a core activator-repressor frequently found in circadian mechanisms. We have considered transcriptional and post-translational regulations to implement this core. We have applied our analysis to both, eukaryotic and prokaryotic circadian machinery. Finally, we conjecture a possible mechanism for the evolution of circadian clocks. © Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.

Domaines: Biochimie, Biologie Moléculaire

G. Rodrigo, J. Carrera, A. Jaramillo. Evolutionary mechanisms of circadian clocks. Central European Journal of Biology, 2007, 2 (2), pp.233. ⟨10.2478/s11535-007-0016-z⟩. ⟨hal-00767094⟩