TY - JOUR T1 - Wakefulness Is Promoted during Day Time by PDFR Signalling to Dopaminergic Neurons in <span class="named-content genus-species" id="named-content-1"><em>Drosophila melanogaster</em></span> JF - eneuro JO - eNeuro DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0129-18.2018 VL - 5 IS - 4 SP - ENEURO.0129-18.2018 AU - Sheetal Potdar AU - Vasu Sheeba Y1 - 2018/07/01 UR - http://www.eneuro.org/content/5/4/ENEURO.0129-18.2018.abstract N2 - Circadian clocks modulate timing of sleep/wake cycles in animals; however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In Drosophila melanogaster, large ventral lateral neurons (l-LNv) are known to promote wakefulness through the action of the neuropeptide pigment dispersing factor (PDF), but the downstream targets of PDF signalling remain elusive. In a screen using downregulation or overexpression (OEX) of the gene encoding PDF receptor (pdfr), we found that a subset of dopaminergic neurons responds to PDF to promote wakefulness during the day. Moreover, we found that small LNv (s-LNv) and dopaminergic neurons form synaptic contacts, and PDFR signalling inhibited dopaminergic neurons specifically during day time. We propose that these dopaminergic neurons that respond to PDFR signalling are sleep-promoting and that during the day when PDF levels are high, they are inhibited, thereby promoting wakefulness. Thus, we identify a novel circadian clock pathway that mediates wake promotion specifically during day time. ER -