On the move through time – a historical review of plant clock research

The circadian clock is an important regulator of growth and development that has evolved to help organisms to anticipate the predictably occurring events on the planet, such as light-dark transitions, and adapt growth and development to these. This review looks back in history on how knowledge about the endogenous biological clock has been acquired over the centuries, with a focus on discoveries in plants. Key findings at the physiological, genetic and molecular level are described and the role of the circadian clock in important molecular processes is reviewed.