Bacteria can anticipate the seasons: photoperiodism in cyanobacteria

Abstract

Photoperiodic Time Measurement is the ability of plants and animals to measure differences in day/night-length (photoperiod) and use that information to anticipate critical seasonal transformations such as annual temperature cycles. This timekeeping phenomenon triggers adaptive responses in higher organisms such as gonadal growth/regression, flowering, and hibernation. Unexpectedly, we discovered this capability in cyanobacteria, unicellular prokaryotes with generation times of only 5-6 h. Cyanobacteria in short winter-like days develop enhanced resistance to cold that involves desaturation of membrane lipids and differential programs of gene transcription, including stress response pathways. As in eukaryotes, this photoperiodic timekeeping requires an intact circadian clockwork and develops over multiple cycles. Therefore, photoperiodic timekeeping evolved in much simpler organisms than previously appreciated, and involved genetic responses to stresses that recur seasonally.