The adaptive nature of the plant circadian clock in natural environments

Abstract The plant circadian clock coordinates developmental, physiological, and metabolic processes with diel changes in light and temperature throughout the year. The balance between the persistence and plasticity of the clock in response to predictable and unpredictable environmental changes may be key to the clock’s adaptive nature across temporal and spatial scales. Studies under controlled conditions have uncovered critical signaling pathways involved in light and temperature perception by the clock; however, they don’t account for the natural lag of temperature behind photoperiod. Studies in natural environments provide key insights into the clock’s adaptive advantage under more complex natural settings. Here, we discuss the role of the circadian clock in light and temperature perception and signaling, how the clock integrates these signals for a coordinated and adaptive response, and the adaptive advantage conferred by the clock across time and space in natural environments.

• Publication year

  2022

• Venue

  Plant Physiology

• Publication date

  2022-07-27

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1093/plphys/kiac337PMID 35894658PMCID 9516730
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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