Circadian rhythms are found in most plants and animals.
These rhythms operate on a twenty four hour period, and are endogenous, meaning that
they are internally generated by the plant or animal. If the plant or animal is isolated
from external time cues such as light-dark cycles, processes that are identified as
circadian rhythms are those that will keep on functioning on a twenty four hour schedule
even without the cues. Additionally, circadian rhythms generally operate independently
of temperature changes.
Botanical examples of circadian
phenomena include leaf movements such as the wake/sleep leaf position of many species of
bean plants,the transcription of DNA, flower opening and closing, elongation of the
hypocotyl during seed germination, and immune responses to
pathogens.
Transpiration is not a circadian phenomenon
because it is controlled by the interplay of water availability, temperature, and
sunlight.
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