title: Geographic Variation of Plant Circadian Clock Function in Natural and Agricultural Settings.
abstract: The increasing demand for improved agricultural production will require more efficient breeding for traits that maintain yield under heterogeneous environments. The internal circadian oscillator is essential for perceiving and coordinating environmental cues such as day length, temperature, and abiotic stress responses within physiological processes. To investigate the contribution of the circadian clock to local adaptability, we have analyzed circadian period by leaf movement in natural populations of Mimulus guttatus and domesticated cultivars of Glycine max. We detected consistent variation in circadian period along a latitudinal gradient in annual populations of the wild plant and the selectively bred crop, and this provides novel evidence of natural and artificial selection for circadian performance. These findings provide new support that the circadian clock acts as a central regulator of plant adaptability and further highlight the potential of applying circadian clock gene variation to marker-assisted breeding programs in crops.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Greenham
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
authors.forename: Joshua R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Puzey
authors.affiliation: Monsanto Company, St. Louis, MO.
authors.forename: Ganesh
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Monsanto Company, St. Louis, MO.
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arnevik
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Hany
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Farid
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Willis
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: C Robertson
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: McClung
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D002170:Canada; D057906:Circadian Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005843:Geography; D032241:Mimulus / Q000502:physiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology*; D013025:Glycine max / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013696:Temperature; D014481:United States
keywords: circadian period; latitude; leaf movement; natural variation; selective breeding