Plants tell the time

Plants use sugars to tell the time of day, according to research published in Nature today. Our research shows that sugar levels within a plant play a vital role in synchronizing circadian rhythms with its surrounding environment - Alex Webb Plants, like animals, have a 24 hour 'body-clock' known as the circadian rhythm. This biological timer gives plants an innate ability to measure time, even when there is no light - they don't simply respond to sunrise, for example, they know it is coming and adjust their biology accordingly. This ability to keep time provides an important competitive advantage and is vital in biological processes such as flowering, fragrance emission and leaf movement. BBSRC-funded scientists from the University of Cambridge Department of Plant Sciences, are studying how plants are able to set and maintain this internal clock. They have found that the sugars produced by plants are key to timekeeping. Plants produce sugar via photosynthesis; it is their way of converting the sun's energy into a usable chemical form needed for growth and function.