Chemical basis of a biological clock.Chemical basis of a biological clock The ticking of a fruit fly's biological clock involves a chemical called a proteoglycan proteoglycan /pro·teo·gly·can/ (pro?te-o-gli´kan) any of a group of polysaccharide-protein conjugates present in connective tissue and cartilage, consisting of a polypeptide backbone to which many glycosaminoglycan chains are covalently , a long chain of sugar subunits attached to a protein. This result, reported by Michael Rosbash of Brandeis University Brandeis University, at Waltham, Mass.; coeducational; chartered and opened 1948. Although Brandeis was founded by members of the American Jewish community, the university operates as an independent, nonsectarian institution. in Waltham, Mass., comes from studies of a fly gene known as period (abbreviated as per), which is required for the insect's biological rhythms. By moving pieces of DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. into fly reproductive cells, Rosbach located the per gene on a segment of DNA that is active in the embryonic nervous system and again late in the pupal pu·pa n. pl. pu·pae or pu·pas The nonfeeding stage between the larva and adult in the metamorphosis of holometabolous insects, during which the larva typically undergoes complete transformation within a protective cocoon or stage and in adulthood, especially in the fly head. The nucleotide sequence of the per gene was determined, and its predicted product resembles a mammalian proteoglycan. In further experiments, Rosbach showed "the per gene does indeed code for a proteoglycan.' |
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