Molecular chronobiology in dinoflagellates

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What makes a cell or an organism able to do some things better at a particular time of day or night? Generally speaking, the daily behavior of most organisms is regulated by an internal timer termed a circadian clock. This clock serves to predict daily environmental changes and to adjust cellular physiology and biochemistry in consequence. Our interest lies to cataloging the range of strategies by which cells modulate their behavior. We use a single celled organism as a model, which is easy to grow in culture and has many different rhythms. We have chosen four different rhythms for detailed study, and are trying to relate changes in cellular biochemistry with the rhythms that we observe. In the simplest strategy we have characterized, the cell makes a particular reaction go faster by synthesizing more enzyme. In another, more complicated strategy, the cell makes a reaction go faster by changing the distribution of an enzyme in the cell. While the specifics of the reactions may be restricted to our model system, the general strategies uncovered may be generally applicable to other systems including humans.