Joseph Watson
Research Mentor(s): Ravi Allada
Mentor Department: Anesthesiology/MNI
Authors: Julia Kravchenko, Joseph Watson
Session: Session 5 (2:00pm – 2:50pm)
Presentation Type: Poster 99
Abstract
Sleep is a vital biological process, however, unlike many other biological processes, the genes that influence sleep are largely unknown. Since sleep can be influenced by a range of factors, including but not limited to stress, illness, exercise, and food, it is unlikely that a single gene is responsible for sleep regulation. This study aims to use genetic screening in Drosophila (fruit fly) to identify causal genes that regulate sleep. Using the Gal4/UAS binary expression system we will use RNA interference (RNAi) to knockdown 12 candidate genes panneuronally suspected of modifying sleep. These candidate genes were nominated from genetic mapping in genetically diverse mice. Male and female flies aged 3-8 days post eclosion will be screened for sleep behavior in the Drosophila Activity Monitoring (DAM) system. The sleep phenotypes tracked included sleep duration (in light and dark), latency, and sleep bout number and average length (in light and dark). We found that females were more likely than males to have a sleep phenotype due to gene knockdown. We found that knockdown of gene CG8993 results in a lower average sleep duration and increased sleep bout number in females. We also found that the knockdown of Zip results in a lower number of sleep bouts per day and higher average length of sleep bouts in females. We nominate these for further characterization. Knowledge of the genetic basis of sleep will contribute to better treatments for sleep disorders which affect millions of people.
