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Levy K, Wegrzyn Y, Moaraf S, Barnea A, Ayali A. When night becomes day: Artificial light at night alters insect behavior under semi-natural conditions. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 926:171905. [PMID: 38531451 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Revised: 02/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
Light is the most important Zeitgeber for temporal synchronization in nature. Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts the natural light-dark rhythmicity and thus negatively affects animal behavior. However, to date, ALAN research has been mostly conducted under laboratory conditions in this context. Here, we used the field cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus, to investigate the effect of ALAN on insect behavior under semi-natural conditions, i.e., under shaded natural lighting conditions, natural temperature and soundscape. Male crickets were placed individually in outdoor enclosures and exposed to ALAN conditions ranging from <0.01 to 1500 lx intensity. The crickets' stridulation behavior was recorded for 14 consecutive days and nights and their daily activity patterns were analysed. ALAN impaired the crickets' stridulation rhythm, evoking a change in the crickets' naturally synchronized daily activity period. This was manifested by a light-intensity-dependent increase in the proportion of insects demonstrating an intrinsic circadian rhythm (free-run behavior). This also resulted in a change in the population's median activity cycle period. These ALAN-induced effects occurred despite the crickets' exposure to almost natural conditions. Our findings provide further validity to our previous studies on ALAN conducted under lab conditions and establish the deleterious impacts of ALAN on animal behavioral patterns. TEASER: Artificial light at night alters cricket behavior and desynchronizes their stridulation even under near-natural conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keren Levy
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Yoav Wegrzyn
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Stan Moaraf
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel; Department of Natural Sciences, The Open University of Israel, Ra'anana 4353701, Israel
| | - Anat Barnea
- Department of Natural Sciences, The Open University of Israel, Ra'anana 4353701, Israel
| | - Amir Ayali
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel.
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Levy K, Barnea A, Tauber E, Ayali A. Crickets in the spotlight: exploring the impact of light on circadian behavior. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2024; 210:267-279. [PMID: 38252321 PMCID: PMC10994875 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01686-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Crickets serve as a well-established model organism in biological research spanning various fields, such as behavior, physiology, neurobiology, and ecology. Cricket circadian behavior was first reported over a century ago and prompted a wealth of studies delving into their chronobiology. Circadian rhythms have been described in relation to fundamental cricket behaviors, encompassing stridulation and locomotion, but also in hormonal secretion and gene expression. Here we review how changes in illumination patterns and light intensity differentially impact the different cricket behaviors as well as circadian gene expression. We further describe the cricket's circadian pacemaker. Ample anatomical manipulations support the location of a major circadian pacemaker in the cricket optic lobes and another in the central brain, possibly interconnected via signaling of the neuropeptide PDF. The cricket circadian machinery comprises a molecular cascade based on two major transcriptional/translational negative feedback loops, deviating somewhat from the canonical model of Drosophila and emphasizing the significance of exploring alternative models. Finally, the nocturnal nature of crickets has provided a unique avenue for investigating the repercussions of artificial light at night on cricket behavior and ecology, underscoring the critical role played by natural light cycles in synchronizing cricket behaviors and populations, further supporting the use of the cricket model in the study of the effects of light on insects. Some gaps in our knowledge and challenges for future studies are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keren Levy
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
| | - Anat Barnea
- Department of Natural Sciences, The Open University of Israel, 4353701, Ra'anana, Israel
| | - Eran Tauber
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, 3103301, Haifa, Israel
| | - Amir Ayali
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
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Takeuchi K, Matsuka M, Shinohara T, Hamada M, Tomiyama Y, Tomioka K. Fbxl4 Regulates the Photic Entrainment of Circadian Locomotor Rhythms in the Cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. Zoolog Sci 2023; 40:53-63. [PMID: 36744710 DOI: 10.2108/zs220047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Photic entrainment is an essential property of the circadian clock that sets the appropriate timing of daily behavioral and physiological events. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the entrainment remain largely unknown. In the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus, the immediate early gene c-fosB plays an important role in photic entrainment, followed by a mechanism involving cryptochromes (crys). However, the association between c-fosB expression and crys remains unclear. In the present study, using RNA-sequencing analysis, we found that five Fbxl family genes (Fbxl4, Fbxl5, Fbxl16, Fbxl-like1, and Fbxl-like2) encoding F-box and leucine-rich repeat proteins are likely involved in the mechanism following light-dependent c-fosB induction. RNA interference (RNAi) of c-fosA/B significantly downregulated Fbxls expression, whereas RNAi of the Fbxl genes exerted no effect on c-fosB expression. The Fbxl genes showed rhythmic expression under light-dark cycles (LDs) with higher expression levels in early day (Fbxl16), whole day (Fbxl-like1), or day-to-early night (Fbxl4, Fbxl5, and Fbxl-like2), whereas their expression was reduced in the dark. We then examined the effect of their RNAi on the photic entrainment of the locomotor rhythm and found that RNAi of Fbxl4 either disrupted or significantly delayed the re-entrainment of the locomotor rhythm to shifted LDs. These results suggest that light-induced c-fosB expression stimulates Fbxl4 expression to reset the circadian clock.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuki Takeuchi
- Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Mirai Matsuka
- Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Tsugumichi Shinohara
- Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Mayuko Hamada
- Ushimado Marine Institute (UMI), Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 701-4303, Japan
| | - Yasuaki Tomiyama
- Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Kenji Tomioka
- Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan,
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Levy K, Fishman B, Barnea A, Ayali A, Tauber E. Transcriptional Response of Circadian Clock Genes to an ‘Artificial Light at Night’ Pulse in the Cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms231911358. [PMID: 36232659 PMCID: PMC9570371 DOI: 10.3390/ijms231911358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Light is the major signal entraining the circadian clock that regulates physiological and behavioral rhythms in most organisms, including insects. Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts the natural light–dark cycle and negatively impacts animals at various levels. We simulated ALAN using dim light stimuli and tested their impact on gene expression in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus, a model of insect physiology and chronobiology. At night, adult light–dark-regime-raised crickets were exposed for 30 min to a light pulse of 2–40 lx. The relative expression of five circadian-clock-associated genes was compared using qPCR. A dim ALAN pulse elicited tissue-dependent differential expression in some of these genes. The strongest effect was observed in the brain and in the optic lobe, the cricket’s circadian pacemaker. The expression of opsin-Long Wave (opLW) was upregulated, as well as cryptochrome1-2 (cry) and period (per). Our findings demonstrate that even a dim ALAN exposure may affect insects at the molecular level, underscoring the impact of ALAN on the circadian clock system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keren Levy
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Bettina Fishman
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Anat Barnea
- Department of Natural and Life Sciences, The Open University of Israel, Raanana 4353701, Israel
| | - Amir Ayali
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Correspondence: (A.A.); (E.T.)
| | - Eran Tauber
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
- Correspondence: (A.A.); (E.T.)
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Moriyama Y, Takeuchi K, Tomioka K. Constant Light, Pdp1, and Tim Exert Influence on Free-Running Period of Locomotor Rhythms in the Cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. Zoolog Sci 2022; 39:459-467. [DOI: 10.2108/zs220014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yoshiyuki Moriyama
- Department of Natural Sciences, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki 701-0192, Japan
| | - Kazuki Takeuchi
- Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Kenji Tomioka
- Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
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