Do plants have body clocks?
Do plants have body clocks?
Science Interviews
The Naked Scientists
November 2008
Interview with Steve Kay, UCSD
Steve - What our lab principally studies is biological rhythms in plants. People understand biological rhythms or circadian rhythms really from the jetlag they experience such as the BBC team might be feeling coming to San Diego. Plants also have these 24 hour rhythms but of course, they don’t a sleep-wake cycle like humans have. What plants do is control their metabolism, their photosynthesis rates and what we’ve discovered recently is plants actually grow rhythmically.
Chris - When does a plant do most of its growth? Most people presume plants need sunlight to grow. They’re therefore going to grow during the day and go to sleep at night.
Steve - That’s quite right. Plants do need sunlight for energy through photosynthesis. What we and others have discovered in recent years is that the vast majority of plants on this planet actually grow at night.
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