Spatial Regulation of the Plant Circadian Clock

Mar 16, 2026Annual review of plant biology

How Different Parts of a Plant Control Its Daily Biological Clock

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Abstract

Circadian dynamics may vary significantly across different organs and tissues.

The plant circadian clock generates 24-hour rhythms in gene expression.
Evidence suggests spatial variation in the regulation of the circadian clock.
Differences in sensitivity to environmental cues may influence clock timing.
Local cellular rhythms may be coordinated to maintain overall timing in the organism.
Spatial regulation of the clock could play a role in controlling various developmental processes.

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The plant circadian clock enables the precise timing of physiological processes across the day-night cycle by generating endogenous 24-h rhythms in gene expression. In, an iteration between experiments and modeling has uncovered a core oscillator comprising interlocked transcriptional feedback loops. However, emerging techniques now reveal that circadian dynamics vary across organs, tissues, and even individual cells, highlighting the need for spatially resolved clock models. In this review, we explore evidence for spatial variation in clock regulation, including differences in sensitivity to environmental cues, the timing of clock components, and the nature of downstream outputs. We discuss how local cellular rhythms are coordinated to achieve robust organism-level timing and consider how spatial regulation of the clock may contribute to the control of diverse developmental processes. Arabidopsis

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Spatial Regulation of the Plant Circadian Clock

Abstract

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