takeout, a Novel DrosophilaGene under Circadian Clock Transcriptional Regulation

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Abstract
We report the identification and characterization of a newDrosophila clock-regulated gene, takeout(to). to is a member of a novel gene family and is implicated in circadian control of feeding behavior. Its gene expression is down-regulated in all of the clock mutants tested. In wild-type flies, to mRNA exhibits daily cycling expression but with a novel phase, delayed relative to those of the better-characterized clock mRNAs, period andtimeless. The E-box-containing sequence in theto promoter shows impressive similarities with those ofperiod and timeless. However, our results suggest that the E box is not involved in the amplitude and phase of the transcriptional cycling of to. The circadian delayed transcriptional phase is therefore most likely the result of indirect regulation through unknown transcription factors.