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Hereditas(Beijing) ›› 2023, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (5): 409-424.doi: 10.16288/j.yczz.23-008

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The mechanism of circadian clock and its influence on animal circannual rhythm

Yang Yang1(), Mingxing Chu1(), Qiuyue Liu2()   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
    2. Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, the Innovation Academy for Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
  • Received:2023-01-09 Revised:2023-04-14 Online:2023-05-20 Published:2023-04-24
  • Contact: Chu Mingxing,Liu Qiuyue E-mail:yy176362@163.com;qyliu@genetics.ac.cn;mxchu@263.net
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(32172704);Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of China(CAAS-ZDRW202106);Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of China(ASTIP-IAS13);China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA(CARS-38);Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA24030205)

Abstract:

The circadian clock exists in almost all life forms, and is an internal activity generated by organisms adapting to the daily periodic changes of the external environment. The circadian clock is regulated by the transcription-translation-negative feedback loop in the body, which can regulate the activities of tissues and organs. Its normal maintenance is important for the health, growth, and reproduction of organisms. In contrast, due to the season changes of the environment, organisms have also formed annual cycle physiological changes in their bodies, such as seasonal estrus, etc. The annual rhythm of living things is mainly affected by environmental factors such as photoperiod, and is related to gene expression, hormone content, morphological changes of cell and tissues in vivo. Melatonin is an important signal to recognize the changes of photoperiod, and the circadian clock plays an important role in the pituitary to interpret the signal of melatonin and regulate the changes of downstream signals, which plays an important guiding role in the recognition of annual changes in the environment and the generation of the body's annual rhythm. In this review, we summarize the progress of research on the mechanism of action of circadian clocks in influencing annual rhythms, by introducing the mechanisms of circadian and annual rhythms generation in insects and mammals, and in the context of annual rhythms in birds, with the aim of providing a broader range of ideas for future research on the mechanism of annual rhythms influence.

Key words: circadian clock, circannual rhythm, molecular mechanism, insect, mammals