摘要
生物过程的昼夜节律是所有真核生物和部分原核生物的基本特征。自从ｐｅｒｉｏｄ基因被克隆以后，生物钟基因的研究已经取得长足的进展。生物钟的４个基本部件如何调控昼夜节律的分子机制已被较详细地阐明，这是遗传学和基因组学相结合的一个非凡成就。本文回顾了ｐｅｒ基因及生物钟分子机制的研究历史，旨在为人类复杂行为的研究提供一条思路。
Many biochemical,physiological and behavioural processes in organisms ranging from microorganisms to vertebrates exhibit circadian rhythms driven by endogenous oscillators.Since the cloning of the biological clock gene period in Drosophila ,the endeavor in two decades to understand the molecular components that constitute these oscillators has been rewarded:we now know the circadian rhythm is driven by four cogs:PER,TIM,CLOCK and BMAL1,and the mechanism which govern the circadian oscillation has been elucidated.This work on biological clock genes is spectacular not only for its heuristic value,but also because it illustrate the synegistic power of genetics and genomics.Given the evolutionary conservation of the mechanisms that govern the fundermental biological processes,the period story will greatly accelerate the reseach progress on human complex behavior
基金
国家自然科学基金
中国科学院昆明动物研究所细胞与分子进化开放研究实验室资助
