Genetics of Circadian Clocks

Mutations affecting the circadian clocks of Neurospora crassa and Drosophila melanogaster have identified genes that play important roles in clock organization and have introduced recombinant-DNA technology to the study of circadian clocks. In Drosophila they have also identified neurosecretory cells in the brain as candidates for a “master control” element in the circadian organization of the fly.