Gönülkirmaz-Cancalar, Özlem

Circadian clocks are endogenous systems regulating many physiological and behavioral responses with a cycle of about 24 hours. Social bees, including honeybees and bumblebees, are excellent models for circadian biology because their ecological success depends on a remarkable repertoire of time-dependent activities. They use sun-compass orientation, anticipate the timing of floral rewards, and synchronize their behaviors socially. They show adaptive plasticity in their rhythmic behaviors depending on colony tasks. This intricate relationship between circadian rhythms and behavioral ecology makes bees uniquely suited to study the role of clock genes on complex behaviors.

My aim is to establish Bombus terrestris as a genetic model for circadian studies, develop a reliable CRISPR/Cas9 protocol to mutate key components of the circadian system and systematically assess the impact of these mutations at neuronal and behavioral levels.

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