Determining how the circadian clock increases chlorophyll content

几乎所有的生物都有一个内部时钟，由每天的光明和黑暗周期设定。这个时钟被称为生物钟，来自拉丁语“大约一天”。植物中的生物钟已经被证明可以控制植物中的许多功能，并且可以引起除其他外的日常节奏，生长，叶子的运动以及从阳光中制造糖的过程，这被称为光合作用。直到最近，我们一直认为生物钟一定很重要，因为植物中的许多过程都是由它控制的，但我们不知道为什么生物钟很重要。我们有新的数据表明，生物钟增加了植物的光合作用速率，因此使植物生长得更快，比邻居做得更好。我们的数据表明，光合作用的增加是由于生物钟帮助植物拥有更多的绿色色素，叶绿素。叶绿素吸收太阳的能量来驱动光合作用。我们将发现参与叶绿素产生的基因的活性的昼夜节律控制如何增加植物中叶绿素的量。我们将观察生物钟是否会增加叶绿素的产量，如果叶绿素被光损伤，是否会增加叶绿素的修复，或者增加植物对过多光线的保护，例如制造更多的色素作为防晒霜。这些实验很重要，因为它们将帮助我们了解生物钟如何提高植物中其他主要代谢途径的效率。这些信息对于了解植物是如何进化和适应的非常重要，可以帮助生产出生长得更好、更有营养的植物。

Nearly all living things have an internal clock that is set by the daily cycle of light and dark. This clock is called a circadian clock from the latin 'about a day'. The circadian clock in plants has been shown to control many of the functions in the plant and can cause daily rhythms in amongst other things, growth, movements of leaves and the process of making sugar from sunlight, which is called photosynthesis. Until recently, we have thought that the circadian clock must be important because so many process in the plant are controlled by it, but we did not know why the clock is important. We have new data that show that the circadian clock increases the rate of photosynthesis in plants and therefore makes the plant grow faster and do better than its neighbours. Our data suggest that the increase in photosynthesis is due to the circadian clock helping the plant to have more of the green pigment, chlorophyll. It is chlorophyll that traps the sun's energy to drive photosynthesis. We will find out how the circadian control of the activity of genes involved in chlorophyll production increases the amount of chlorophyll in the plant. We will look to see if the circadian clock increases the amount of chlorophyll made, increases the repair of chlorophyll if it is damaged by light or increases the protection of the plant from too much light, by for example making more pigments that act as a sunscreen. These experiments are important because they will help us understand how the circadian clock improves the efficiency of other major metabolic pathways in the plant. This information is important for understanding how plants have evolved and adapted and could help produce plants that grow better and are more nutritious to eat.