Adaptive significance of circadian programs in cyanobacteria.
Prokaryotic cyanobacteria express robust circadian (daily) rhythms, even when growing with doubling times that are considerably faster than once every 24 h. This biological clock orchestrates cellular events to occur in an optimal temporal program. Competition experiments demonstrate that fitness is enhanced when the circadian period resonates with the period of the environmental cycle.
Johnson
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Dept of Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA. carl.h.johnson@vanderbilt.edu
Golden
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SS
Kondo
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D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D003624:Darkness; D008027:Light