# Genetic and Molecular Dissection of Regulatory Mechanisms Underlying Temperature and Nutritional Compensation of the Circadian Clock in Neurospora crassa

> **NIH NIH F32** · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · 2022 · $17,934

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract:
The circadian clock serves a time-keeping function to anticipate daily changes in the environment and is used
by almost every eukaryote on the planet. The ~24-hour circadian period length is buffered against fluctuations
in external conditions, including temperature and nutrient levels, in a ubiquitous phenomenon called
compensation. The molecular mechanism underlying compensation is not well understood in any eukaryotic
organism. The long-term goal of this project is to understand temperature compensation (TC), nutritional
compensation (NC), and the molecular interactions between compensation effectors and the core clock
network using the model eukaryote Neurospora crassa. Although research and training were significantly
disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the reverse genetic screen for mutants with defects in TC and NC was
completed using the Neurospora knockout collection (Aim 1). The number of mutants with NC defects has
more than doubled because of this work. The mass spectrometry experiments to identify TC-relevant
substrates of Casein Kinase 1 and 2 are well underway, and publication is anticipated in 2022 (Aim 2).
This Administrative Supplement will support additional months of professional development training lost to the
COVID-19 pandemic as well as publication of a third first-author manuscript under this NRSA fellowship.
Molecular mechanisms of circadian compensation are beginning to take shape due to research completed
under this project. This and future independent investigator projects will resolve how the ~24-hour circadian
period length is maintained in the face of different nutrient levels and temperatures in the environment, findings
that have implications for humans with circadian sleep disorders, shift workers, continuous jet-lag, and other
chronobiological conditions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10513105
- **Project number:** 3F32GM128252-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Christina Kelliher
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $17,934
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-11-22 → 2022-02-21

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10513105

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10513105, Genetic and Molecular Dissection of Regulatory Mechanisms Underlying Temperature and Nutritional Compensation of the Circadian Clock in Neurospora crassa (3F32GM128252-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10513105. Licensed CC0.

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