Circatidal gene expression in the mangrove cricket Apteronemobius asahinai

The mangrove cricket Apteronemobius asahinai is endemic to mangrove forest floors. It shows circatidal rhythmicity, with a 12.6-h period of locomotor activity under constant conditions. Its free-running activity also has a circadian component; i.e. it is more active during the subjective night than during the day. In this study, we investigated rhythmic gene expression under constant darkness by RNA sequencing to identify genes controlled by the biological clock. Samples collected every 3 h for 48 h were analysed (one cricket per time-point). We identified 284 significant circatidal cycling transcripts (period length 12–15 h). Almost half of them were annotated with known genes in the NCBI nr database, including enzymes related to metabolic processes and molecular chaperones. There were less transcripts with circadian rhythmicity than with circatidal rhythmicity, and the expression of core circadian clock genes did not show significant rhythmicity. This may reflect the nature of the mangrove cricket or may be due to the paucity of the sampling repeats: only two periods for circadian cycle with no replications. We evaluated for the first time the rhythmic transcriptome of an insect that shows circatidal rhythmic activity; our findings will contribute to future studies of circatidal clock genes.