Chapter category: Circadian Rhythms
PAS Proteins and the Neurospora Crassa Circadian Clock
Chapter authors:
Christian Heintzen
A number of proteins with known or predicted roles in the Neurospora circadian clock work share a common structural domain, named PAS domain after the founding mem bers PER-ARNT-SIM. PAS domains have been identified in all major phyla and are present within signalling proteins that help to transduce a variety of external stimuli. Although not a signature motif of clock proteins, PAS domains were the first shared domain to be identified in many circadian clock proteins of fungi, plants, insects and mammals. It is the aim of this review to highlight the function of these PAS proteins within the Neurospora clock and, in particular, to examine the contribution of the PAS domain towards its clock function.
