Reducing the clock gene period changes daily rhythms but not tidal rhythms in mangrove crickets

Injection of double-stranded RNA of the clock gene period (per) resulted in most crickets not showing circadian modulation of activity.

• The mangrove cricket, Apteronemobius asahinai, displays both circatidal and circadian rhythms in locomotor activity.
• Circadian rhythms influence the intensity of activity during circatidal active phases.
• After the introduction of RNA interference targeting per, the circadian modulation of activity was lost in most crickets.
• The circatidal rhythm remained intact without a significant change in its period compared to control crickets.
• Findings suggest that per is important for circadian rhythms but may not be involved in the circatidal rhythm.
• The circatidal rhythm in A. asahinai likely operates through a distinct molecular mechanism from the circadian clock.

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