Abstract
We report the identification and characterization of a new
Drosophila
clock-regulated gene,
takeout
(
to
).
to
is a member of a novel gene family and is implicated in circadian control of feeding behavior. Its gene expression is down-regulated in all of the clock mutants tested. In wild-type flies,
to
mRNA exhibits daily cycling expression but with a novel phase, delayed relative to those of the better-characterized clock mRNAs,
period
and
timeless
. The E-box-containing sequence in the
to
promoter shows impressive similarities with those of
period
and
timeless
. However, our results suggest that the E box is not involved in the amplitude and phase of the transcriptional cycling of
to
. The circadian delayed transcriptional phase is therefore most likely the result of indirect regulation through unknown transcription factors.