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Science 22 July 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5734, pp. 630 - 633
DOI: 10.1126/science.1115581
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Reports

Plant Circadian Clocks Increase Photosynthesis, Growth, Survival, and Competitive Advantage

Antony N. Dodd,1 Neeraj Salathia,2* Anthony Hall,2{dagger} Eva Kévei,3 Réka Tóth,3 Ferenc Nagy,3 Julian M. Hibberd,1 Andrew J. Millar,2{ddagger} Alex A. R. Webb1§

Circadian clocks are believed to confer an advantage to plants, but the nature of that advantage has been unknown. We show that a substantial photosynthetic advantage is conferred by correct matching of the circadian clock period with that of the external light-dark cycle. In wild type and in long– and short–circadian period mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana, plants with a clock period matched to the environment contain more chlorophyll, fix more carbon, grow faster, and survive better than plants with circadian periods differing from their environment. This explains why plants gain advantage from circadian control.

1 Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK.
2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
3 Plant Biology Institute, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Post Office Box 521, H-6701 Szeged, Hungary.

* Present address: Bauer Center for Genomics Research, Harvard University, 7 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

{dagger} Present address: School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK.

{ddagger} Present address: Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, Mayfield Road, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JH, UK.

§ To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: alex.webb{at}plantsci.cam.ac.uk

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