Roles of A Circadian Clock in The Photoperiodic Flowering and Organ-Movements in Arabidopsis

Abstract

Not only animals but also plants have a circadian clock to control many physiological aspects. Since the isolation of LHY and CCA1 genes as the 1st candidates for clock components in plants, many genes that are highly associated with clock functions have been identified in Arabidopsis and other plant species. In this work, recent progress on isolation of clock genes and construction of models on circadian rhythms in Arabidopsis are summarized. Molecular mechanisms on the photoperiodic flowering and the organ movements controlled by the circadian clock are also discussed in more detail.