Modeling reveals a key mechanism for light-dependent phase shifts of Neurospora circadian rhythms

Light shifts and synchronizes the phase of the circadian clock to daily environments, which is critical for maintaining the daily activities of an organism. It has been proposed that such light-dependent phase shifts are triggered by light-induced upregulation of a negative element of the core circadian clock (i.e. frq, Per1/2) in many organisms including fungi. However, we find that the upregulation of the frq gene expression alone is unable to reproduce the observed light-dependent phase responses using systematic mathematical modeling of the Neurospora crassa circadian clock.

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