Fruit flies have sex for longer if their internal body clock is impaired, reveals a new study.
The finding is the first time that so-called 鈥渃lock genes鈥� have been shown to affect activity on the minute-by-minute timescale.
The chance discovery came while researchers were looking at the effect on fruit flies鈥� reproduction of the removal of the genes timeless or period, which are involved in regulating daily wake-sleep cycles known as circadian rhythms. A student noticed the mutant males copulated for 30 to 50 per cent longer than the 15 minutes that other fruit flies mated.
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鈥淭hey lost track of time,鈥� says Jaga Giebultowicz of Oregon State University, Corvallis, US, who led the study.
Jet lag
Since clock genes also play a role in activities unrelated to time, such as the courtship 聭song鈥� of the male fruit fly, the findings should not be a surprise, says Ezio Rosato, an expert on clock genes from the University of Leicester, UK.
鈥淵ou use the same tool to do many things 鈥� you can build a house or fix a car and you use the same hammer,鈥� he says. However, the new study is interesting as it shows 鈥渁nother time event has been affected by genes that regulate timing.鈥�
But the underlying mechanism appears to be different, as the copulation duration is unaffected by constant light as daily cycles are.
Work on the clock genes of fruit flies could help in understanding clock genes in humans, which are responsible for jet lag when humans cross several time zones in a few hours.
杏吧原创s also believe the genes are involved in protecting from cancer, but studying the mechanism behind this is difficult because humans have more than one copy of the genes. Working with fruit flies is easier, as while human clock genes have 鈥渁n increased level of complexity, the basic elements are the same,鈥� says Rosato.
Whether removing timeless and period genes in humans would have the same effect on length of sex as fruit flies, remains to be seen. 鈥淭hat would be a very nice experiment to do,鈥� adds Rosato.
Journal reference: Current Biology (vol 14, p 1491)