Slaves to the rhythm: Oscillations, cycling and the pace of life

Abstract

Plants, as sessile organisms, are forced to take advantage of the limited availability of sunlight, their most important resource. Not surprisingly, many aspects of physiology and development are therefore organized by an endogenous chronometer in plants. This so-called ‘circadian’ clock imposes a 24-hour rhythm on metabolic reactions and physiological processes to optimally align them with the environmental light-dark cycle1.