Nocturnal to Diurnal Switches with Spontaneous Suppression of Wheel-Running Behavior in a Subterranean Rodent

Author(s)

Tachinardi, Patricia ^[1] ; Toien, Oivind ^[2] ; Valentinuzzi, Veronica S. ^[3] ; Buck, C. Loren ^[4] ; Oda, Gisele A. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Alaska, Inst Arctic Biol, Fairbanks, AK 99775 - USA

^[3] Ctr Reg Invest Cient & Transferencia Tecnol CRILA, La Rioja - Argentina

^[4] Univ Alaska Anchorage, Dept Biol Sci, Anchorage, AK - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PLoS One; v. 10, n. 10 OCT 13 2015.
• Web of Science Citations: 7

Abstract

Several rodent species that are diurnal in the field become nocturnal in the lab. It has been suggested that the use of running-wheels in the lab might contribute to this timing switch. This proposition is based on studies that indicate feed-back of vigorous wheel-running on the period and phase of circadian clocks that time daily activity rhythms. Tuco-tucos (Ctenomys aff. knighti) are subterranean rodents that are diurnal in the field but are robustly nocturnal in laboratory, with or without access to running wheels. We assessed their energy metabolism by continuously and simultaneously monitoring rates of oxygen consumption, body temperature, general motor and wheel running activity for several days in the presence and absence of wheels. Surprisingly, some individuals spontaneously suppressed running-wheel activity and switched to diurnality in the respirometry chamber, whereas the remaining animals continued to be nocturnal even after wheel removal. This is the first report of timing switches that occur with spontaneous wheel-running suppression and which are not replicated by removal of the wheel. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/23393-5 - Daily patterns of energy expenditure in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys aff. knighti, the tuco-tuco
• Grantee: Patricia Tachinardi Andrade Silva
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 12/15767-2 - Laboratory and field chronobiology in subterranean rodents (Ctenomys aff. knighti)
• Grantee: Gisele Akemi Oda
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/50482-1 - Field and laboratory chronobiological studies in subterranean rodents (Ctenomys aff. knighti)
• Grantee: Gisele Akemi Oda
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 12/16362-6 - Rhythmicity and energetic of subterranean rodents (Ctenomys aff. knighti), in laboratory and field
• Grantee: Gisele Akemi Oda
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International