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Circadian Rhythms in Unicellular Organisms

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Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology ((CT MICROBIOLOGY,volume 90))

Abstract

The regular alternation of day and night, of light and darkness, has strongly affected the development of life on Earth. Many organisms adapted themselves to this environmental condition and, finally, evolved an endogenous timer, which usually oscillates in phase with the Earth’s rotation. It exists in almost all classes of plants and animals, in men as well as in protozoans, but it has not been demonstrated unambiguously in prokaryotes. When it is allowed to run in a constant environment it completes about one cycle in 24 h. Biologic functions coupled to this internal timer or clock oscillate with a period of about 1 day. These functions, therefore, exhibit the socalled circadian rhythm (derived from circa dies, i.e., about 1 day (Halberg and Reinberg 1968)).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Allgemeine Botanik und Botanischer Garten, Universität Hamburg, Jungiusstr. 6-8, D-2000, Hamburg 36, Germany

    Dieter Mergenhagen

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  1. Dieter Mergenhagen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Basle, Switzerland

    W. Arber  & F. Melchers  & 

  2. Seattle, USA

    S. Falkow

  3. Philadelphia, USA

    W. Henle  & H. Koprowski  & 

  4. Martinsried, Germany

    P. H. Hofschneider

  5. London, UK

    J. H. Humphrey

  6. Tübingen, Germany

    J. Klein

  7. Düsseldorf, Germany

    P. Koldovský

  8. Copenhagen, Denmark

    O. Maaløe

  9. Gießen, Germany

    R. Rott

  10. Ladenburg/Heidelberg, Germany

    H. G. Schweiger

  11. Prague, Czech Republic

    L. Syruček

  12. Los Angeles, USA

    P. K. Vogt

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© 1980 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Mergenhagen, D. (1980). Circadian Rhythms in Unicellular Organisms. In: Arber, W., et al. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 90. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-67717-5_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-67717-5_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-67719-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-67717-5

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