Daily and Seasonal temporal organization, from behavioral to molecular levels, in subterranean rodents Ctenomys famosus

• Grant number: 22/16225-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: November 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Compared Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Gisele Akemi Oda
• Grantee: Gisele Akemi Oda
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Horacio Oscar de la Iglesia ; Patricia Tachinardi Andrade Silva ; Pedro Augusto Carlos Magno Fernandes ; Regina Pekelmann Markus ; Verônica Sandra Valentinuzzi ; Zulma Felisbina da Silva Ferreira
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/19412-1 - Daily temporal profile of melatonin synthesis in the pineal gland and extra-pineal tissues of the subterranean rodent Ctenomys coludo, BP.IC

Abstract

In this international, collaborative project, we intend to extend the characterization of the daily temporal organization from behavioral to molecular level in subterranean rodents (Ctenomys coludo), known as tuco-tucos from Anillaco. In the Laboratory, we intend to get: 1) Temporal profile of general activity, body temperature (Tb) and behavior in tuco-tucos kept in burrowing boxes, which will allow expression inside the lab of behaviors that were inhibited within traditional wheel cages, such as excavation, underground stay and surface emergence. This is done in the context of our search for a methodology for controlled nocturnal/diurnal inversion in the laboratory. 2) Development of international collaboration for extraction and analysis of a diversity of tuco-tucos´tissues from freshly captured individuals during winter and summer and sacrificed at 6 different times throughout day and night: a) analysis of temporal expression of clock-genes in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (Lab. Prof. Horacio de la Iglesia, U Washington); b) temporal profile of blood melatonin and glucocorticoids (Lab Profs. Regina P. Markus, Zulma Ferreira Silva, Pedro AC Fernandes (IBUSP); c) characterization of the retina (Lab. Prof. Ethan Buhr, U Washington); d) sequencing of the genome of tuco-tucos (Lab. Prof. John Hogenesch, Cincinatti Children´s Hospital). (AU)