circadian-biology
Circadian biology is the study of internal biological clocks that govern 24-hour physiological rhythms in organisms. In plants, these circadian rhythms regulate critical processes including photosynthesis, growth rate, flowering time, and stress tolerance. Understanding plant circadian systems is essential because they enable plants to anticipate and synchronize with daily and seasonal environmental changes, directly optimizing their metabolic performance and survival.
PubMed · 2026-04-28
A review of 25 years of research on plant internal clocks reveals how plants time their daily and seasonal activities down to the cellular level — and how scientists may soon engineer crops that keep better time in a warming, unpredictable climate.
Plant circadian (internal) clocks exert pervasive control over physiology, development, and reproductive fitness, including traits shaped by domestication in major crops.
Genomic and systems-level studies revealed that circadian rhythms vary significantly across different tissues and cell types within a single plant, not just across whole organisms.
Emerging bioengineering tools now make it feasible to deliberately redesign plant clocks to improve agricultural resilience under climate change conditions.