Photoperiod –temperature phase lag: A universal environmental context of seasonal developmental plasticity

Although temperature and photoperiod are the two major seasonal cues for organismal responses, the importance of phase lag between annual oscillations of the two signals has been unexplored, despite its universal nature in the context of seasonal environments. In this article, the phase ‐lag calendar hypothesis, especially the one between temperature and photoperiod, is explained using meteorological data obtained from central Japan as an example. Seasonal developmental plasticity, which consists of season ‐dependent alternations of developmental processes, has evolved to produce optimal phenotypes depending on specific periods in a year. For example, many phenological events in plants, such as flowering, fruiting, bud blast, bud formation, and growth cessation, are often controlled seasonally. Alth ough temperature and photoperiod are the two major seasonal cues for such responses, the importance of phase lag between annual oscillations of the two signals has been unexplored, despite its universal nature in the context of seasonal environments. In this article, the phase‐lag calendar hypothe sis (New Phytologist, 210, 2016, 399), especially the one between temperature and photoperiod, is explained using meteorological data obtained from central Japan as an example. We set forth to show how, for a narrow window in time of a couple of weeks in a year, simple threshold responses to these two signals that differ in annual oscillation phases are enough to make developmental...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - Category: Research Authors: Tags: REVIEW ARTICLE Source Type: research