Dual environmanetal entrainment of circadian clock. Can day/night temperature and light/dark periods together entrain the clock?

Vertical Farming is a new model in food production with high water, fertilizer and land use efficiency compared to traditional cultivation. No pesticides are applied and since this novel system allows worldwide cultivation, it reduces food mileage promoting local production (even within urban areas!). Vertical farm is also revolutionary due to full control of the growth environment which is not possible in open field or greenhouse production. However, the high investment costs and energy use are challenges its profitability and sustainability.
Plants have developed an internal pacemaker (circadian clock) that assures that key physiological processes (photosynthesis, stomata, sugar metabolism, etc) occur at the right time of the day and season. Little is known about lettuce growth under different diel cycles and vertical farming is the opportunity to “hack” the plant circadian clock, enhance growth, and increase light use efficiency, resulting in vertical farms more sustainable.
The MSc thesis work will focus on circadian clcok entrainment by light - dark periods interaction with day - night temperatures on lettuce growth and light use efficiency.

Used skills

• Destructive harvest measurments plant fresh and dry biomass.
• Light quality and light intensity measurmentes with apogee and licor li190.
• Phenotyping using a microcontrolled camera to acquire the projected leaf area.
• Morphology measurements at harvest leaf number and leaf area.

Interested in doing a BSc or MSc thesis at HPP? Please contact the HPP student coordinator Katharina Hanika.