Data from: Natural Zeitgebers under temperate conditions cannot compensate for the loss of a functional circadian clock in timing of a vital behavior in Drosophila

The adaptive significance of adjusting behavioral activities to the right
time of the day seems obvious but is under debate. Our data provides
evidence that proper timing of eclosion, a vital behavior of the fruit fly
Drosophila melanogaster, requires a functional molecular clock under
quasi-natural conditions. We compared eclosion profiles and assessed
eclosion rhythmicity in wildtype flies (CS) and clock-related mutant
strains (per01, pdf01, han5304) under laboratory and outdoor conditions.
In the laboratory, flies were entrained in either light-dark cycle
(LD12:12) or warm (25°C)-cold (16°C) cycle  (WC12:12), and tested
under entrainment or constant conditions using TriKinetics Drosophila
Eclosion Monitors. For outdoor assays, a WEclMon system was used and
experiments were performed between July-Octobre 2014 and July-Octobre
2016. Flies with a defective molecular clock showed impaired rhythmicity
and gating under natural temperate conditions in Würzburg/Germany even in
the presence of a full complement of abiotic Zeitgebers. We also found
that eclosion rhythmicity cannot be entrained by daily cycles in relative
humidity. Low relative humidity also did not or only weakly affect the
ability of the flies to eclose and unfold their wings. Our results suggest
that the presence of natural Zeitgebers is not sufficient, and a
functional molecular clock is required to induce stable temporal eclosion
patterns in flies under temperate conditions with considerable day-today
variation in light intensity and temperature. Temperate Zeitgebers are,
however, sufficient to functionally rescue a loss of PDF-signalling. The
data set belongs to the publication: Ruf F, Mitesser O, Mungwa ST, Horn M,
Rieger D, Hovestadt T, and Wegener C (2021) Natural Zeitgebers Under
Temperate Conditions Cannot Compensate for the Loss of a Functional
Circadian Clock in Timing of a Vital Behavior in Drosophila. Journal of
Biological Rhythms 36: 271–285. DOI: 10.1177/0748730421998112.

将行为活动调整至当日适宜时段的适应性意义看似显而易见，却仍存在争议。本研究数据提供了证据表明：在准自然条件下，黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）的关键行为——羽化的精准时序调控，需要具备功能的分子时钟（molecular clock）。我们在实验室与野外两种条件下，对比了野生型果蝇（CS品系）与生物钟相关突变株系（per01、pdf01、han5304）的羽化谱，并评估了其羽化节律性。实验室环境中，果蝇分别在光暗周期（LD12:12）或温周期（25℃暖期/16℃冷期，WC12:12）下完成节律同步，并在同步状态或恒定条件下，采用TriKinetics公司果蝇羽化监测仪开展测试。野外实验则采用WEclMon系统进行，实验时段覆盖2014年7月至10月以及2016年7月至10月。在德国维尔茨堡的自然温带生境中，即便存在全套非生物授时因子（Zeitgeber），分子时钟功能缺陷的果蝇仍表现出节律性与节律门控功能受损的表型。我们同时发现，每日相对湿度周期无法同步果蝇的羽化节律；低相对湿度既未对果蝇的羽化及展翼能力产生显著影响，亦仅能带来微弱的干扰。本研究结果显示：在光照强度与温度存在显著日间波动的温带自然环境中，仅依赖天然授时因子并不足以诱导果蝇形成稳定的羽化时序模式，还需具备功能的分子时钟。不过，温带授时因子足以在功能上挽救PDF信号通路缺失的表型。本数据集关联发表论文：Ruf F、Mitesser O、Mungwa ST、Horn M、Rieger D、Hovestadt T及Wegener C（2021）《温带条件下的天然授时因子无法补偿果蝇关键行为时序调控中分子时钟功能的缺失》，刊载于《生物节律杂志》（Journal of Biological Rhythms）第36卷，页码271–285，DOI：10.1177/0748730421998112。