Circadian genetics in the model higher plant, Arabidopsis thaliana.

In recent decades, most research on the circadian rhythms of higher plants has been driven by molecular genetics. A wide variety of experimental approaches have discovered mutants in the plant circadian clock, yet the screens are far from saturated and there must still be important clock-related genes to identify. Direct methods to screen for circadian mutants include the original assay of rhythmic luminescence from promoter:luciferase constructs in planta or a recently developed assay based on stomatal rhythms. Mutants found through simpler screens of processes only partially controlled by the clock are still identifying novel and interesting circadian phenotypes when their rhythms are tested, while the sequenced genome and the large range of mutant stocks available have made reverse genetics increasingly powerful.