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Article: Lighting up biological clocks; genes from glowing organisms illuminate circadian rhythms.
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- August 12, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the ocean, the brownish, single-celled alga Gonyaulax polyedra puts on an unusual light show. At night, it glows softly and emits bright flashes from time to time. But during the day, when these organisms aggregate near the ocean's surface and use sunlight to make needed chemicals through photosynthesis, their glow dims and they rarely flash.
In 1958, Harvard's J. Woodland Hastings discovered that G. polyedra doesn't shut down its night-light and flashbulbs simply because the sun rises. When placed in constant darkness, the algae maintain a nearly day-long light cycle.
This pattern of bioluminescence provides a striking visual example of a circadian ...