Stress from disrupted daily rhythms affects the internal clock and causes jasmonic acid-related cell death in plants lacking cytokinin

Changes in the light-dark cycle resulted in stress responses and cell death in Arabidopsis thaliana with disrupted cytokinin signaling.

• Light-dark regime alterations triggered stress and cell death in plants with reduced cytokinin levels.
• Prolonged light exposure followed by darkness activated stress-related genes and decreased photosynthetic efficiency.
• Expression of key circadian clock genes, CCA1 and LHY, was significantly reduced under circadian stress.
• Similar stress responses and gene expression changes were observed in clock mutants lacking CCA1 and LHY function.
• The activation of the jasmonic acid pathway was crucial for inducing cell death, with reduced effects in a jasmonate-resistant mutant.
• Normal cytokinin levels may be essential for coping with circadian stress by supporting circadian clock function.

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