It is not only people who feel the effects of short winter days – new research has shed light on how plants calculate their own winter solstice.

A study led by the University of Edinburgh used computer models of a plant known as mouse-ear cress to examine how the plant’s internal clock – which regulates the plant’s daily activities – is affected by changes in day length from winter to summer.

It is hoped that the findings will help scientists develop crops that can cope with climate change.

Scientists found a complex connection between the genes that create this internal rhythm – known as a circadian clock – and the genes that cause the plant to flower. The findings give researchers a greater understanding of how daylight affects the daily rhythms of the plant. The rhythms of gene activity shift as daylight changes with the seasons. This gene activity in turn affects seasonal changes in plants, such as flowering.

The study with researchers from the University of Warwick, which drew on data from labs in Europe, the US and Japan, was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and published in the journal Cell.

Professor Andrew Millar, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Biological Sciences, who led the study, said: “By understanding how flowering genes work together in a simple plant, we stand a much better chance of understanding how the same genes operate in more complex crops, such as barley and rice.

“Our systems biology approach, which combines mathematical modelling with experiments, gives a new way to explain how a plant’s internal rhythms react and respond to a changing environment. The same approach could be applied to understand how seasonal variations affect breeding in animals, such as sheep.”

“We’re interested in whether all plants have evolved a similar way of sensing day length, and whether the strategy is the same in plants and animals.”

For more information please contact:

Professor Andrew Millar, School of Biological Studies, tel 0131 651 3325; email Andrew.Millar@ed.ac.uk

Catriona Kelly, Press and PR Office, tel 0131 651 4401; 07791 355940; email Catriona.Kelly@ed.ac.uk

Image design by Dr. Neeraj Salathia