Abstract
Over the series of articles on circadian rhythms, we saw that living organisms exhibit daily rhythms in multiple behaviours and physiological processes. Although some rhythms may be passive responses to 24 h environmental cycles, many are regulated by endogenous-rhythmgenerating machinery called circadian clocks. We have introduced the concept of circadian clocks, their organization and the underlying molecular mechanisms. In this article, we will dwell upon one of the most fundamental questions pertaining to circadian clocks, ‘Why do we have them?’. The aim of this article is not to provide answers, but to discuss the efforts and strategies used to address this question and critically evaluate explanations proposed till date.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Suggested Reading
J C Dunlap, J J Loros and P J DeCoursey, Chronobiology: Biological Timekeeping, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA, 2004.
D A Paranjpe and V K Sharma, Evolution of temporal order in living organisms, Journal of Circadian Rhythms, Vol.3, No.7, 2005.
K M Vaze and V K Sharma, On the adaptive significance of circadian clocks on their owners, Chronobiology International, Vol. 30, pp.413–433, 2013.
Previous articles
Koustubh M Vaze and Vijay Kumar Sharma, ‘From Daily Rhythms to Biological Clocks’, Resonance, Vol.18, No.7, pp.662–672, 2013.
Nikhil K L and Vijay Kumar Sharma, ‘The Underlying Molecular Mechanisms’, Resonance, Vol.18, No.9, pp.832–844, 2013.
Koustubh M Vaze, Nikhil K L and Vijay Kumar Sharma, ‘Why do Living Organisms have Them’, Resonance, Vol.18, No.11, pp.1032–1050, 2013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Koustubh Vaze is a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Neurobiology and Genetics, University of Würzburg, Germany. Currently, he is working on the role of circadian clocks in respect of photoperiodism.
Nikhil K L is pursuing his PhD at JNCASR, Bangalore. His research is on understanding the role of circadian clocks in timing adult emergence in D. melanogaster.
Vijay Kumar Sharma is a Professor at JNCASR, Bangalore. His research interests are in understanding circadian organization of fruit flies and ants, adaptive significance of circadian clocks, neurogenetics of circadian egg-laying rhythm in fruit flies and timekeeping under natural conditions.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vaze, K.M., Nikhil, K.L. & Sharma, V.K. Circadian rhythms. Reson 19, 175–189 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-014-0020-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-014-0020-3