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SUMMARY:The plant circadian clock in the lab and the field - Dr Seth Davis
 \, Department of Plant Developmental Biology\, Max Planck Institute for Pl
 ant Breeding Research
DTSTART:20130410T130000Z
DTEND:20130410T140000Z
UID:TALK43414@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Helen Mawdsley
DESCRIPTION:The plant circadian clock is proposed to provide an adaptive b
 enefit by ensuring the correct diurnal timing of metabolism and the correc
 t seasonal timing of development. Mutational studies in Arabidopsis thalia
 na support this notion. First I will outline the current clock network\, a
 s understood at a molecular-genetic and partial cellular layer of understa
 nding. Then I will discuss the role of natural allelic variation in the cl
 ock under controlled and field settings. We examined clock parameters in A
 rabidopsis mapping populations under simulated field experiments and concl
 uded that the oscillator provides a memory of the preceding environment of
  thermal and photic cycles. The cellular context of protein products of se
 veral natural variants we cloned will be discussed. From there we grew suc
 h mapping populations in the field and concluded that the season of germin
 ation has a large effect on subsequent clock behavior. This had a large as
 sociation to predicting survivability and fitness in cohorts compared unde
 r contrasting seasons. Relevance of this fitness to agriculture is extende
 d to showing that barley breeders have selected for clock variants\, and I
  will report the identity of several of these domestication genes. The rol
 e of the barley clock to provide stress adaptation will also be discussed 
 in a tissue-organizational context.
LOCATION:Auditorium of The Sainsbury Laboratory (Bateman Street)
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