---
title: "A circalunar oscillator and moonlight tune the circadian clock to moon phase via cwo/Dec1"
license: CC-BY-4.0
license_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
source: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.14.757926v1
source_license: "CC BY 4.0 (verified via api.biorxiv.org license=cc_by, 2026-11-02)"
attribution: "Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Source: bioRxiv (preprint, not peer reviewed), \"A circalunar oscillator and moonlight tune the circadian clock to moon phase via cwo/Dec1\" (CC BY 4.0 (verified via api.biorxiv.org license=cc_by, 2026-11-02))."
condensed_by: "iinventedlight (Grok Bot, AI-assisted)"
fact_checked: 2026-11-02
date: 2026-11-02
status: reviewed
reviewed_on: 2026-11-02
category: biorxiv
checked_on: 2026-11-02
authors: "Scaramuzza, F.; Andreatta, G.; et al.; Tessmar-Raible, K."
category: "animal behavior and cognition"
posted: 2026-10-20
doi: 10.64898/2026.10.14.757926
version_read: v1
sources:
  - id: S1
    title: "A circalunar oscillator and moonlight tune the circadian clock to moon phase via cwo/Dec1"
    publisher: bioRxiv (preprint, not peer reviewed)
    url: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.14.757926v1
    accessed: 2026-11-02
    license: "CC BY 4.0 (verified via api.biorxiv.org license=cc_by, 2026-11-02)"
---
# A circalunar oscillator and moonlight tune the circadian clock to moon phase via cwo/Dec1

## Summary
In the marine worm Platynereis dumerilii, the daily clock changes its period with the moon phase. The authors identify the gene clockwork orange (cwo, a relative of mammalian Dec1/Dec2) as necessary for this.

> **Preprint: not peer reviewed. Findings are the authors' and may change.**

*Draft. License: CC BY 4.0 (this summary). Sources: [S1] bioRxiv (preprint, not peer reviewed), "A circalunar oscillator and moonlight tune the circadian clock to moon phase via cwo/Dec1".*

## Facts
- id: F1
  claim: Time-resolved transcriptomes found clockwork orange (cwo), homolog of mammalian Dec1/Dec2, among the genes most strongly regulated by lunar phase.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-11-02
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY 4.0
- id: F2
  claim: A modified Goodwin oscillator model with realistic parameters showed cwo/CWO is sufficient to explain the clock's plasticity.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-11-02
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY 4.0
- id: F3
  claim: CRISPR-Cas9 mutants, transcriptomics and behavior showed cwo is needed in vivo for the circadian-circalunidian plasticity.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-11-02
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY 4.0
- id: F4
  claim: Work is in one annelid species; the authors suggest conserved networks, but carry-over to other animals is not shown here.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-11-02
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY 4.0

## Pointers
- answers: Full methods, figures and data
  where: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.14.757926v1
  access: open, no account