Biological Clock and Its Research Progress in Plants
During the long process of evolution,plants have gradually established a set of regulatory network that can predict environ-mental changes in advance,called the biological clock.It is not only a molecular timer inside the plant,but also a connection between the plant and the environment,which transmits the information of the change of the environmental zeitgeber(light and temperature,etc.)to the core oscillator through the input pathway.Then,the core genes of the biological clock regulate the downstream clock-con-trolled genes through the output pathway according to the signal,which would ensure the"benefit maximization"and"loss minimiza-tion"in the process of interaction between plants and the environment,and enhance the adaptability of plants to the environment.In this paper,we focus on the role of the biological clock in the growth and development of plants and the stress response,such as the control of flowering time,carbohydrate metabolism and hypocotyl elongation,and the regulation of abiotic stress responses such as high temperature and drought.At the same time,two pairs of concepts that are easily confused,namely circadian rhythms and diurnal rhythms,zeitgeber time and circadian time,are concisely and clearly illustrated in the form of diagrams.With the deepening of the re-search on model plants,the identification and functional analysis of biological clock genes of rice,one staple food crop,is on the way of continual improvement.We have also carried out a series of studies on gene expression rhythms in perennial rice.The ways in which the biological clock participates in environmental interaction and the growth and development of rice are gradually understood,such as the regulation of heading stage and the response to salt stress,which will help to improve the agronomic traits of rice,expanding the planting range of rice,and alleviating the problem of food security.
Circadian rhythmsBiological clockCore oscillatorGrowth and developmentStress responseRice
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
