Deep Conservation of Genes Required for Both Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans Sleep Includes a Role for Dopaminergic Signaling

Abstract

The comprehensive analysis presented here suggests that conserved genes and pathways are required for sleep in invertebrates and, likely, across the entire animal kingdom. The genetic pathway delineated in this study implicates G-alpha S and previously known genes downstream of dopamine signaling in sleep. Quantitative analysis of various components of quiescence suggests that interdependent or identical cellular and molecular mechanisms are likely to regulate both arousal and sleep entry.