Yellow Fever Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Yellow Fever, including details on immunization, vaccines, symptoms, transmission.

Cloning and daily expression of the timeless gene in Aedes aegypti (Diptera:Culicidae).

Gentile C, Meireles-Filho AC, Britto C, Lima JB, Valle D, Peixoto AA

Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, IOC, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos CEP 21045-900, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Molecular approaches for studying biological rhythms in insects have been well investigated in the model Drosophila melanogaster, in which a number of genes have been characterized in terms of sequence, expression, protein interactions and involvement in the control of locomotor activity and eclosion rhythms. However, only scattered information is available for insect vectors of diseases. In this paper, we report the cloning and expression analysis of the clock gene timeless in the mosquito Aedes aegypti, vector of Dengue and Yellow Fever viruses. In Drosophila, timeless has a crucial role in the control of the central pacemaker and the resetting mechanism that allows the clock to synchronize with the environment light-dark cycles. Comparison of the predicted protein sequence encoded by timeless in Ae. aegypti and D. melanogaster demonstrated high similarity in some important domains, suggesting functional conservation. Analysis of the daily expression of timeless in Ae. aegypti shows a peak in mRNA abundance around the light-dark transition.

Published 18 October 2006 in Insect Biochem Mol Biol, 36(11): 878-84.
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