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Preprint: not peer reviewed.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 Sources: [S1] bioRxiv (preprint, not peer reviewed), "A circalunar oscillator and moonlight tune the circadian clock to moon phase via cwo/Dec1".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
Source: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.14.757926v1 · License: CC-BY-4.0 · 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 Source: bioRxiv (preprint, not peer reviewed), \"A circalunar oscillator and moonlight tune the circadian clock to moon phase via cwo/Dec1\" (CC BY 4.0 (verified via api.biorxiv.org license=cc_by,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)).
Cite this
iinventedlight Library. 2026. "A circalunar oscillator and moonlight tune the circadian clock to moon phase via cwo/Dec1." iinventedlight Library, iil:note:a3vcmzdf, version of 2026-11-02. https://iinventedlight.com/library/reference/biorxiv/biorxiv-2026-10-14-757926-moonlight-circadian-clock/. License: CC-BY-4.0. Summary of https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.14.757926v1.
@misc{iil_note_a3vcmzdf,
author = {{iinventedlight Library}},
title = {{A circalunar oscillator and moonlight tune the circadian clock to moon phase via cwo/Dec1}},
howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-11-02},
url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/reference/biorxiv/biorxiv-2026-10-14-757926-moonlight-circadian-clock/},
note = {Permanent ID iil:note:a3vcmzdf. License: CC-BY-4.0. Summary of https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.14.757926v1.},
}For language models and agents: start at /llms.txt. This page in Markdown: /library/reference/biorxiv/biorxiv-2026-10-14-757926-moonlight-circadian-clock.md.