Newly described components and regulatory mechanisms of circadian clock function in Arabidopsis thaliana

The circadian clock temporally coordinates plant growth and metabolism in close synchronization with the diurnal and seasonal environmental changes. Research over the last decade has identified a number of clock components and a variety of regulatory mechanisms responsible for the rhythmic oscillati...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Troncoso, Adrián, Más, Paloma
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2012
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/249493
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/249493
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Circadian clock
Feedback loops
Circadian rhythms
Arabidopsis thaliana
Descrição
Resumo:The circadian clock temporally coordinates plant growth and metabolism in close synchronization with the diurnal and seasonal environmental changes. Research over the last decade has identified a number of clock components and a variety of regulatory mechanisms responsible for the rhythmic oscillations in metabolic and physiological activities. At the core of the clock, transcriptional/translational feedback loops modulate the expression of a significant proportion of the genome. In this article, we briefly describe some of the very recent advances that have improved our understanding of clock organization and function in Arabidopsis thaliana. The new studies illustrate the role of clock protein complex formation on circadian gating of plant growth and identify alternative splicing as a new regulatory mechanism for clock function. Examination of key clock properties such as temperature compensation has also opened new avenues for functional research within the plant clockwork. The emerging connections between the circadian clock and metabolism, hormone signaling and response to biotic and abiotic stress also add new layers of complexity to the clock network and underscore the significance of the circadian clock regulating the daily life of plants.