Entrainment elicits period aftereffects in Neurospora crassa.

Circadian clocks continue to oscillate in constant conditions with their own period (tau) and entrain to a cyclic environment by adjusting their intrinsic period to that of the zeitgeber. When circadian clocks are released from entrained to constant conditions, the tau of their initial free-run often depends on the nature of the prior zeitgeber. These postentrainment effects on period (tau-aftereffects) have predominantly been reported for animals but, so far, not fungi.

Genetic and molecular characterization of a cryptochrome from the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa.

In plants and animals, cryptochromes function as either photoreceptors or circadian clock components. We have examined the cryptochrome from the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa and demonstrate that Neurospora cry encodes a DASH-type cryptochrome that appears capable of binding flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and methenyltetrahydrofolate (MTHF). The cry transcript and CRY protein levels are strongly induced by blue light in a wc-1-dependent manner, and cry transcript is circadianly regulated, with a peak abundance opposite in phase to frq.