Circadian Rhythmicity in Bacteria and Microbial Populations

Dear Colleagues,

The circadian clock is a ubiquitous feature present in almost every free-living organism, including animals, plants, and bacteria. The term “circadian” originates from the Latin meaning circa (about) and diem (a day). Circadian clocks evolved as adaptations to the Earth's daily oscillation of light and external temperature. They are based on molecular mechanisms, which regulate physiology and behavior. However, each kingdom has its own unique way to anticipate daily changes. Nevertheless, they share common characteristics among all the organisms studied thus far. For many years, it was thought that prokaryotic organisms lacked internal time-keeping mechanisms, since in many bacteria, the lifespan of one generation is shorter than 24 h; therefore, scientists believed that microbes did not require a circadian clock. It was not until the 1980s when Huang et al. described cyanobacteria as the first prokaryote to express daily transcriptional patterns. In 1998, the molecular mechanism of the cyanobacterial KaiABC core oscillator was discovered. However, recent discoveries in K. aerogenes and B. subtilis demonstrated that KaiABC is not required for circadian rhythmicity in bacteria. Additionally, microbial populations, such as the gut microbiome, also demonstrate daily patterns of abundance and function. With this Special Issue, we intend to highlight research and review articles that discuss bacterial rhythmicity, from established and newly emerging prokaryotes, and microbial populations that demonstrate circadian rhythmicity.

Dr. Kinga B Graniczkowska
Prof. Dr. Bart Weimer
Guest Editors

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