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Many organisms, including some prokaryotes and most eukaryotes, possess an internal timer or circadian clock that allows them to regulate their physiology to better adapt to our continually changing world.  These circadian clocks generate roughly 24 hour rhythms in physiology and behavior that are maintained even in the absence of environmental cues.  Although the molecular components of circadian clocks are not conserved across higher taxa, in all organisms studied these clocks are cell autonomous oscillators and in diverse eukaryotes are composed of complex transcriptional networks.
Many organisms, including some prokaryotes and most eukaryotes, possess an internal timer or circadian clock that allows them to regulate their physiology to better adapt to our continually changing world.  These circadian clocks generate roughly 24 hour rhythms in physiology and behavior that are maintained even in the absence of environmental cues.  Although the molecular components of circadian clocks are not conserved across higher taxa, in all organisms studied these clocks are cell autonomous oscillators and in diverse eukaryotes are composed of complex transcriptional networks.


The study of circadian rhythms presents a wide range of interesting questions: What is the molecular nature of the circadian clock; that is, how can a cell keep time?  What aspects of physiology are under circadian regulation?  What are the mechanistic links between the clock network and other signaling pathways?  Why does a functional circadian clock provide an adaptive advantage?
As rooted organisms living in a continually changing world, plants are masters at withstanding environmental variation.  The circadian clock is key: it both ensures the optimal timing of daily and seasonal events to cope with predictable stresses and regulates myriad signaling pathways to optimize responses to environmental cues.  The study of circadian rhythms in plants thus presents a wide range of fascinating questions with real-world applications: What is the molecular nature of the circadian clock; that is, how can a cell keep time?  What aspects of physiology are under circadian regulation?  What are the mechanistic links between the clock network and other signaling pathways?  Why does a functional circadian clock provide an adaptive advantage?


The Harmer lab is using ''Arabidopsis thaliana'' and sunflower to address these fundamental questions.  We use forward and reverse genetics, genomics, biochemistry, and physiological studies to better understand the nature of the plant clock and how it helps shape plant responses to the environment.
The Harmer lab is using ''Arabidopsis thaliana'' and sunflower to address these important questions.  We use forward and reverse genetics, genomics, biochemistry, and physiological studies to better understand the nature of the plant clock and how it helps shape plant responses to the environment.




Revision as of 13:30, 28 July 2014

Room 2123
Department of Plant Biology
1002 Life Sciences, One Shields Ave.
University of California Davis
Davis, CA 95616

Contact: slharmer at ucdavis.edu

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Research

Many organisms, including some prokaryotes and most eukaryotes, possess an internal timer or circadian clock that allows them to regulate their physiology to better adapt to our continually changing world. These circadian clocks generate roughly 24 hour rhythms in physiology and behavior that are maintained even in the absence of environmental cues. Although the molecular components of circadian clocks are not conserved across higher taxa, in all organisms studied these clocks are cell autonomous oscillators and in diverse eukaryotes are composed of complex transcriptional networks.

As rooted organisms living in a continually changing world, plants are masters at withstanding environmental variation. The circadian clock is key: it both ensures the optimal timing of daily and seasonal events to cope with predictable stresses and regulates myriad signaling pathways to optimize responses to environmental cues. The study of circadian rhythms in plants thus presents a wide range of fascinating questions with real-world applications: What is the molecular nature of the circadian clock; that is, how can a cell keep time? What aspects of physiology are under circadian regulation? What are the mechanistic links between the clock network and other signaling pathways? Why does a functional circadian clock provide an adaptive advantage?

The Harmer lab is using Arabidopsis thaliana and sunflower to address these important questions. We use forward and reverse genetics, genomics, biochemistry, and physiological studies to better understand the nature of the plant clock and how it helps shape plant responses to the environment.


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Lab Members


Former Members


Selected Publications

  • Rawat, R., Takahashi, N., Hsu, P.Y., Jones, M.A., Schwartz, J., Salemi, M.R., Phinney, B.S., and Harmer, S.L. (2011) REVEILLE8 and PSEUDO-REPONSE REGULATOR5 form a negative feedback loop within the Arabidopsis circadian clock. PLoS Genetics, 7(3): e1001350. [1]
  • Jones, M.A., Covington, M.F., Ditacchio, L., Vollmers, C., Panda, S., Harmer, S.L. (2010) Jumonji domain protein JMJD5 functions in both the plant and human circadian systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences 107(50): 21623-21628. [2]
  • Rawat, R., Schwartz, J., Jones, M.A., Sairanen, I., Cheng, Y., Andersson, C.R., Zhao, Y., Ljung, K., and Harmer, S.L. (2009). REVEILLE1, a Myb-like transcription factor, integrates the circadian clock and auxin pathways. Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences 106(39) 16883-16888. [3]
  • Harmer, S.L. (2009). The circadian system in higher plants. Annual Review of Plant Biology 60: 357 – 77. [4]
  • Covington, M.F., Maloof, J.N., Straume, M., Kay, S.A., and Harmer, S.L. (2008). Global transcriptome analysis reveals circadian regulation of key pathways in plant growth and development. Genome Biology, 9(8):R130. [5]
  • Covington, M.F. and Harmer, S.L (2007) The circadian clock regulates auxin signaling and responses in Arabidopsis. PLoS Biology, 5(8): e227 [6]
  • Nozue, K., Covington, M.F., Duek, P.D., Lorrain, S., Fankhauser, C., Harmer, S.L., and Maloof, J.N. (2007) Rhythmic growth explained by coincidence between internal and external cues. Nature, 448:358-61. [7]

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