FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) regulates the floral transition in many plant species by integrating environmental seasonal signals and internal cues. Here we show that two interdependent regulatory regions are necessary and sufficient to convey photoperiod responsiveness to FT. While a minimal distance between the regulatory regions is required to fully suppress FT expression under short days, increase...

Angiosperm flowers are usually determinate structures that may produce seeds. In some species, flowers can revert from committed flower development back to an earlier developmental phase in a process called floral reversion. The allopolyploid Arabidopsis suecica displays photoperiod-dependent floral reversion in a subset of its flowers, yet little is known about the environmental conditions enh...

Human sleep-wake cycles are entrained by both natural and artificial light-dark cycles. However, little is known regarding when and how the photoperiod changes entrain the biological clock after conception. To investigate the dependence of sleep patterns in young infants on the natural and artificial light-dark cycles, 1,302 pairs of one-month-old infants and their mothers were asked to answer ...

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) were fed to satiety and reared from approximately 60 g to 5000 g at ambient seawater temperatures. The effect of photoperiod manipulation on muscle growth was investigated from the start of the first sea winter. Continuous light treatment in winter/spring (1 November to 18 June) improved growth performance in fish, resulting in a 30% increase in mean body mass r...

Here we describe the excretion pattern of corticosterone metabolites collected from droppings in barnacle goslings (Branta leucopsis) raised under 24 hours of continuous natural light in the Arctic. In lower latitudes, circulating corticosterone peaks around waking and shows a nadir between midnight and 4:00, whereas the peak and nadir are time-delayed slightly when measuring corticosterone met...

Neurotransmitters have been thought to be fixed throughout life, but whether sensory stimuli alter behaviorally relevant transmitter expression in the mature brain is unknown. We found that populations of interneurons in the adult rat hypothalamus switched between dopamine and somatostatin expression in response to exposure to short- and long-day photoperiods. Changes in postsynaptic dopamine r...

Andersson, H. 2000. Photoperiodism in pigs. Studies on timing of male puberty and melatonin. Doctoral thesis ISSN 1401-6257, ISBN 91-576-5901-X. The routine castration of male piglets, which is performed in many countries to avoid boar taint in meat, is a cause for great concern in terms of animal welfare. Castrates also have reduced feed efficiency and more fat than do entire males. More of th...

effect of different photoperiodic regimes was evaluated on growth performance and survival rate of the beluga ( huso huso ) prelarvae and larvae. newly hatched prelarvae were stored in 5 round fiberglass 500‑l tank with different photoperiod (24l:00d, 18l:06d, 12l:12d, 06l:18 d, 00l:24d) till 50 days post hatch with three replicates. light intensity was 200 lux during the experiment. feeding wa...

Molecular biologists are rapidly characterizing the genetic basis of flowering in model species such as Arabidopsis thaliana. However, it is not clear how the developmental pathways identified in controlled environments contribute to variation in reproductive timing in natural ecological settings. Here we report the first study of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for date of bolting (the transitio...

BACKGROUND An understanding of the genetic determinism of photoperiod response of flowering is a prerequisite for the successful exchange of germplasm across different latitudes. In order to contribute to resolve the genetic basis of photoperiod sensitivity in maize, a set of 201 recombinant inbred lines (RIL), derived from a temperate and tropical inbred line cross were evaluated in 5 field tr...