Our knowledge of the circadian clock in plants has advanced considerably in recent years and we now have a clearer view of the biochemical processes making up its mechanism. Recent work provides insight into the central role played by the circadian system in the regulation of many aspects of metabolism. The multiple systems involved in photoreception have been determined, leading to an understanding of how light entrains the internal biological clock to the natural cycle of day and night, and how this impacts on key events in the plant lifecycle, such as the photoperiodic regulation of flowering.
This book provides a contemporary overview of endogenous plant rhythms for researchers and professionals in the plant sciences. It will also serve as a valuable source of reference for the wider circadian community.
1. The plant circadian clock: review of a clockwork Arabidopsis Frank Harmon, Takato Imaizumi and Steve Kay, Department of Cell Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA 2. Pseudo-response regulator genes"tell" the time of day: multiple feedbacks in the circadian system of higher plants? Shiregu Hanano and Seth Davis, Department of Plant Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany 3. Multiple and slave oscillators Dorothee Staiger and Corinna Streitner, Institut fur Pflanzenwissenschaften, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland, and Fabian Rudolf, Institut fur Biochemie, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland, and Xi Huang, Institut fur Pflanzenwissenschaften, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland 4. Entrainment of the plant circadian clock David Somers, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA 5. Photoreceptors and light signalling pathways in plants Victoria Larner, Keara Franklin and Garry Whitelam, Department of Biology, University of Leicester, UK 6. Circadian regulation of global gene expression and metabolism Stacey Harmer and Michael Covington, Section of Plant Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA, and Oliver Blasing and Mark Stitt, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam, Germany 7. Photoperiodic responses and the regulation of flowering Isabelle Carre, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK, and George Coupland, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany, and Joanne Putterill, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand 8. Circadian regulation of Ca2+ signalling Michael Gardner, Antony Dodd and Carlos Hotta, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK, and Dale Sanders, The Plant Laboratory, Biology Department, University of York, UK, and Alex Webb, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK 9. The circadian clock in CAM plants James Hartwell, Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York, UK 10. Clock evolution and adaptation: whence and whither? Carl H Johnson, Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville Tennessee, USA, and Charalambos Kyriacou, Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, UK
Dr Anthony Hall, School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK. Dr Harriet McWatters, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, UK