C. Robertson McClung
Professor of Biological SciencesThe Patricia F. and William B. Hale 1944 Professor in the Arts and SciencesProfessor in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program
The ability of an organism to measure time is the product of a cellular biological clock. Many phenomena controlled by the biological clock cycle on a daily basis and are called circadian rhythms. My goal is to understand the genetic and biochemical mechanisms by which an organism measures time and uses that temporal information to regulate gene expressionand cellular physiology.
Selected Publications
Yarkhunova,, Y., C.E. Edwards, B.E. Ewers, R.L. Baker, T.L. Aston, C.R. McClung, P. Lou & C. Weinig. 2016. Selection during crop diversification involves correlated evolution of the circadian clock and ecophysiological traits in Brassica rapa. New. Phytol. 210:133-144.
Salmela, M.J., K. Greenham, P. Lou, C.R. McClung, B.E. Ewers & C. Weinig. 2016. Variation in circadian rhythms is maintained among and within populations in Boechera stricta in Wyoming. Plant Cell Environ. 39: 1293-1303.
Greenham, K. & C.R. McClung. 2015. Integrating circadian dynamics with physiological processes in plants. Nature Rev. Genet. 16: 598-610.
Greenham, K., P. Lou, H. Farid, S.E. Remsen & C.R. McClung. 2015. TRiP: Tracking Rhythms in Plants, an automated leaf movement analysis program for circadian period estimation. Plant Methods 11:33.
Xie, Q., P. Lou, V. Hermand, R. Aman, H.J. Park, D.-J Yun, W.Y. Kim, M.J. Salmela, B.E. Ewers, C. Weinig, S.L. Khan*, D.L.P. Schaible*, & C.R. McClung. 2015. Allelic polymorphism of GIGANTEA is responsible for naturally occurring variation in circadian period in Brassica rapa. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 112:3829-3834.
Gehan, M.A., K. Greenham, T.C. Mockler & C.R. McClung. 2015. Transcriptional networks – crops, clocks, and abiotic stress. Curr. Op. Plant Biol. 24: 39-46.
Xie, Q., P. Wang, X. Liu, L. Yuan, L. Wang, Y. Li, H. Xing, L. Zhi, Z. Yue, C. Zhao, C.R. McClung & X. Xu. 2014. LNK1 and LNK2 are transcriptional coactivators in the Arabidopsis circadian oscillator. Plant Cell 26:2843-2857.
Ng, D.W.-K., M. Miller, H.H. Yu, T.-Y. Huang, E.-D. Kim, J. Lu, Q. Xie, C.R. McClung & Z.J. Chen. 2014. A role for CHH methylation in the parent-of-origin effect on altered circadian rhythms and biomass heterosis in Arabidopsis intraspecific hybrids. Plant Cell 26:2430-2440.
Rosas, U., Mei, Y., Xie, Q., Banta, J., Zhou, R.W., Seufferheld, G., Gerard-Martinez, S., Chou, L., Bhambhra, N., Flowers, J., McClung, C.R., Hanzawa, Y., Purugganan, M.D. 2014. Variation in Arabidopsis flowering time associated with cis-regulatory variation in CONSTANS. Nature Communications: 5:3561.
Zhang, C., Q. Xie, R.G. Anderson, G. Ng, N.C. Seitz, T. Peterson, C.R. McClung, J.M. McDowell, D. Kong, J.M. Kwak, & H. Lu. 2013. Crosstalk between the circadian clock and innate immunity in Arabidopsis. PLoS Pathogens 9: e1003370.
McClung, C.R. 2014. Wheels within wheels: new transcriptional feedback loops in the Arabidopsis circadian clock. F1000Prime Reports 6:2
Hong, S., S.A Kim, M.L. Guerinot, & C.R. McClung. 2013. Reciprocal interaction of the circadian clock with the Fe homeostasis network in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology 161:893-903.
McClung, C.R. 2013. Beyond Arabidopsis: The circadian clock in non-model plant species. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 24:430-436.
Lou, P., J. Wu, F. Cheng, L.G. Cressman, X. Wang & C.R. McClung. 2012. Preferential retention of circadian clock genes during diploidization following whole genome triplication in Brassica rapa. Plant Cell 24:2415-2426.
Wang, X., F. Wu, Q. Xie, H. Wang, Y. Wang, Y. Yue, O. Gahura, S. Ma, L. Liu, Y. Cao, Y. Jiao, F. Puta, C.R. McClung, X. Xu & L. Ma. 2012. SKIP is a component of the spliceosome linking alternative splicing and the circadian clock in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 24:3278-3295.
Lou, P., Q. Xie, X. Xu, C.E. Edwards, M.T. Brock, C. Weinig & C.R. McClung. 2011. Genetic architecture of the circadian clock and flowering time in Brassica rapa. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 123: 397-409.
Hong, S., H.-R. Song, K. Lutz, R.A. Kerstetter, T.P. Michael & C.R. McClung. 2010. Type II Protein Arginine Methyltransferase PRMT5 is required for circadian period determination in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107: 21211-21216.
Salomé, P.A., D. Weigel & C.R. McClung. 2010. The role of the Arabidopsis morning loop components CCA1, LHY, PRR7, and PRR9 in temperature compensation. Plant Cell 22: 3650-3661.