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Insights into the Evolution of Circadian Clocks Gleaned from Bacteria

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Circadian Rhythms in Bacteria and Microbiomes

Abstract

Circadian clocks are ubiquitous throughout the Tree of Life, being present in organisms from bacteria to mammals. These clocks are generally thought to increase the fitness of organisms by allowing the anticipation of and preparation for the predictable daily changes associated with Earth’s rotation. Here we consider what it takes to show that clocks indeed increase fitness and adaptiveness, as well as what bacteria can tell us about the evolution of clocks. We give a historical panorama of the experimental approaches that attempted to demonstrate the adaptive value of circadian clocks and explore current and future experiments that could facilitate an understanding of the adaptiveness of clocks in both intra- and interspecific contexts. Finally, we explain how studying bacteria can generate a greater appreciation and understanding for the general principles of the adaptive value of circadian clocks not only towards the daily cycle but also for the seasonal cycle, from both a past and future evolutionary perspective.

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Acknowledgments

We dedicate this chapter to the memory of Dr. David McCauley, who generously advised and assisted us in our early analyses and experiments on adaptive fitness tests in cyanobacteria. Research on cyanobacteria in our laboratory has primarily been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIGMS GM067152 and GM107434). Finally, we thank other members of our laboratory and our collaborators for helpful discussions and emotional support.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Maria Luísa Jabbur, Chi Zhao & Carl Hirschie Johnson

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  1. Maria Luísa Jabbur
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  2. Chi Zhao
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Correspondence to Carl Hirschie Johnson .

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Carl Hirschie Johnson

  2. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Michael Joseph Rust

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Jabbur, M.L., Zhao, C., Johnson, C.H. (2021). Insights into the Evolution of Circadian Clocks Gleaned from Bacteria. In: Johnson, C.H., Rust, M.J. (eds) Circadian Rhythms in Bacteria and Microbiomes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72158-9_7

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