TY - JOUR
T1 - Most sleep does not serve a vital function
T2 - Evidence from Drosophila melanogaster
AU - Geissmann, Quentin
AU - Beckwith, Esteban J.
AU - Gilestro, Giorgio F.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2019 The Authors.
PY - 2019/2
Y1 - 2019/2
N2 - Sleep appears to be a universally conserved phenomenon among the animal kingdom, but whether this notable evolutionary conservation underlies a basic vital function is still an open question. Using a machine learning–based video-tracking technology, we conducted a detailed high-throughput analysis of sleep in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, coupled with a lifelong chronic and specific sleep restriction. Our results show that some wild-type flies are virtually sleepless in baseline conditions and that complete, forced sleep restriction is not necessarily a lethal treatment in wild-type D. melanogaster. We also show that circadian drive, and not homeostatic regulation, is the main contributor to sleep pressure in flies. These results offer a new perspective on the biological role of sleep in Drosophila and, potentially, in other species.
AB - Sleep appears to be a universally conserved phenomenon among the animal kingdom, but whether this notable evolutionary conservation underlies a basic vital function is still an open question. Using a machine learning–based video-tracking technology, we conducted a detailed high-throughput analysis of sleep in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, coupled with a lifelong chronic and specific sleep restriction. Our results show that some wild-type flies are virtually sleepless in baseline conditions and that complete, forced sleep restriction is not necessarily a lethal treatment in wild-type D. melanogaster. We also show that circadian drive, and not homeostatic regulation, is the main contributor to sleep pressure in flies. These results offer a new perspective on the biological role of sleep in Drosophila and, potentially, in other species.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062093944&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aau9253
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aau9253
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 30801012
AN - SCOPUS:85062093944
SN - 2375-2548
VL - 5
JO - Science Advances
JF - Science Advances
IS - 2
M1 - eaau9253
ER -