A comparative study on the regulatory region of the PERIOD1 gene among diurnal/nocturnal primates

Background: The circadian clock is set up around a 24-h period in humans who are awake in the daytime and sleep in the nighttime, accompanied with physiological and metabolic rhythms. Most haplorhine primates, including humans, are diurnal, while most "primitive" strepsirrhine primates are nocturnal, suggesting primates have evolved from nocturnal to diurnal habits. The mechanisms of physiological changes causing the habits and of genetic changes causing the physiological changes are, however, unknown. To reveal these mechanisms, we focus on the nucleotide sequences of the regulatory region of the PERIOD1 (PER1) gene that is known as one of the key elements of the circadian clock in mammalians.

Methods: We determined nucleotide sequences of the regulatory region of PER1 concerning the gene expression for six primates and compared those with those of eight primates from the international DNA database. Based on the sequence data, we constructed a phylogenetic tree including both the diurnal/nocturnal species and investigated the guanine and cytosine (GC) content in the regulatory region.

Results: The motif sequences regulating gene expression were evolutionary conservative in the primates examined. The phylogenetic tree simply showed phylogenetic relationship among the species and no branching pattern distinguishable between the diurnal and nocturnal groups. We found two cores showing a statistically significant difference between the diurnal and the nocturnal habits related to the GC contents of the regulatory region of PER1.

Conclusion: Our results suggest the possibility that the two cores in the upstream region of PER1 are related to the regulation of gene expression leading to behavioral differences between diurnal and nocturnal primates.