Sugar cane in the trunk determines the time

A new British study shows plants use synthetic sugar from their internal organs to determine the time of day.

Like humans, plants also have their own "biological clock" , also called the circadian rhythm . Thanks to the use of biological rhythms, plants establish themselves and determine a day's time, even when there is no sunlight.

This means that plants not only simply react to sunlight when they perform photosynthesis, but they know when the sun appears and adjust their biological functions accordingly . The ability to catch up time has certain advantages for plants and plays an important role in the stage of flowering, scenting or leaf development.

Plants use the same amount of synthetic sugar from photosynthesis to establish and maintain circadian rhythms.(Photo: Fotolia)

In the process of studying how Arabidopsis , a small flowering tree from Europe and relatives of cabbage and mustard, can set and maintain circadian rhythms, researchers from the department Plant Science at Cambridge University found that this ability was made by plants using sugar synthesized by plants through photosynthesis. This is the process of converting solar energy into substances necessary for life and maintaining plant functions.

When studying the effectiveness of sugar by monitoring trees in CO _2-free air to inhibit photosynthesis and planting and observing transgenic plants, scientists found that the process of producing sugar will Correct important genes responsible for maintaining the 24-hour rhythm of plants.

"This study shows that sugar in plants plays a key role in regulating circadian rhythms so that plants adapt to their surroundings. For example, when inhibiting photosynthesis, the plant's circadian rhythms will slow from two. up to three hours, " said Science Daily Dr. Alex Webb, head of research.

The process of sugar accumulation in plants provides feedback to the biological cycle like a stopwatch. This may be a way to signal plants that energy to create sugars is ready to perform metabolic tasks. Previous studies have shown that eating time can also affect the circadian rhythm of animals.