Heating and cooling the Drosophila melanogaster clock

• The circadian clock shows impressive diversity in how it responds to temperature.
• The clock entrains to temperatures pulses and cycles via independent mechanisms.
• The clock displays variability in response to temperature ranges.
• The clock's temperature sensitivity could underlie a species’ colonization pattern.

Most biological phenomena are under control of a circuit known as the ‘molecular circadian clock.’ Over the past forty years of research in Drosophila melanogaster, studies have made significant advances in our understanding of the molecular timing mechanism of this circuit, which is determined by a core inhibitory feedback loop. While the timing mechanism of the molecular circadian clock is endogenous, it is well established that exogenous cues such as light and temperature modulate its timing. In the following article, we summarize our current understanding of how temperature interacts with the molecular circadian clock in adult Drosophila.