DNA damage modulates sleep drive in basal cnidarians with divergent chronotypes

Sleep is a conserved behavior across all animals with a nervous system, ranging from cnidarians to humans. Considering the survival risks, why sleep evolved in basal lineages and what essential benefits it provides to the simple nerve net of nocturnal and diurnal invertebrates remain elusive. We used behavioral criteria to empirically define sleep in the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea andromeda and the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Light and homeostasis were the primary drivers of sleep in C. andromeda, which slept at night and napped at midday in both the laboratory and the natural habitat. In contrast, both the circadian clock and homeostatic processes regulated sleep in N. vectensis, which…

• GA
  Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
• B
  Biogen
• IE
  Infrastructures en Biologie Santé et Agronomie
• AN
  Agence Nationale de la Recherche
• GF
  German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development

  Award: G-1566-413.13/2023
• IS
  Israel Science Foundation

  Awards: 1214/24, 961/19
• UI
  Universitetet i Bergen
• AF
  Azrieli Foundation
• UO
  University of Haifa