Degree Name
MS (Master of Science)
Program
Biology
Date of Award
12-2022
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Darrell Moore
Committee Members
Karl Joplin, Thomas C. Jones
Abstract
Circadian rhythms dictate the timing of both once-in-a-lifetime adult emergence (eclosion) and daily locomotor activity rhythms in the flesh fly S. crassipalpis. Light cycles are considered the primary environmental time cue (zeitgeber), but the life history of S. crassipalpis suggests that temperature cycles (thermocycles) may also play a key role. This work evaluates the efficacy of thermocycling as a zeitgeber in S. crassipalpis. We found that shifting both light and temperature cycles of sufficient amplitude affect the phasing of eclosion and locomotor activity, but result in different patterns. Additional experiments suggest greater thermocycle sensitivity during the late metamorphic period and that thermocycling reduces variance in eclosion times. Taken together, these findings suggest that temperature cycles can be used by S. crassipalpis to time eclosion and adult locomotor activity, and that S. crassipalpis may be physiologically primed to use thermocycle information during metamorphosis.
Document Type
Thesis - embargo
Recommended Citation
Ragsdale, Raven, "Light and Temperature Entrainment of Two Circadian-Driven Behaviors in the Flesh Fly Sarcophaga crassipalpis" (2022). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 4152. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/4152
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.
Included in
Behavior and Ethology Commons, Developmental Biology Commons, Entomology Commons, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Commons, Other Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons