Temperature compensation of the Arabidopsis circadian clock.

Abstract

The circadian clock is an endogenous, self-sustaining oscillator with a period of approximately 24 h. This timekeeping system helps organisms align their physiologies and behaviors with the day-night cycle. Temperature compensation, which allows the clock to maintain a period of about 24 h across physiological temperature ranges, is striking because, the rates of biochemical reaction rates increase with temperature in general. This review summarizes the effects of temperature on the period length of circadian rhythms in plants, especially Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis). Most core clock genes contribute to the temperature compensation of circadian period length. Temperature compensation involves the active, targeted degradation of specific core clock proteins at lower temperatures. Comparing the molecular mechanisms across different organisms may suggest design principles that allow evolutionarily distinct clock proteins to achieve temperature compensation.