Summary Circadian clocks are oscillatory systems that schedule daily rhythms of organismal behavior. The ability of the clock to reset its phase in response to external signals is critical for proper synchronization with the environment. In the model clock from cyanobacteria, the KaiABC proteins that comprise the core oscillator [1, 2] are directly sensitive to metabolites. Reduced ATP/ADP ratio and the oxidized quinones cause clock phase shifts in vitro [3, 4]. But it is unclear what determine the metabolic response of the cell to darkness and thus the magnitude of clock resetting. We show that the cyanobacterial circadian clock generates a rhythm in metabolism that causes cells to accumulate glycogen in anticipation of nightfall. Mutation of the histidine kinase CikA creates an insensitive clock input phenotype by misregulating clock output genome-wide, leading to over-accumulation of glycogen and subsequently high ATP in the dark. Conversely, we show that disrupting glycogen metabolism results in low ATP in the dark and makes the clock hypersensitive to dark pulses. The observed changes in cellular energy are sufficient to recapitulate phase shifting phenotypes in an in vitro model of the clock. Our results show that clock input phenotypes can arise from metabolic dysregulation and illustrate a framework for circadian biology where clock outputs feed back through metabolism to control input mechanisms.

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Chlorophyll b is synthesized by the oxidation of a methyl group on the B ring of a tetrapyrrole molecule to a formyl group by chlorophyllide a oxygenase (CAO). The full-length CAO from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) was overexpressed in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) that grows well at light intensities much higher than those tolerated by Arabidopsis. This resulted in an increased synthesis of glutamate semialdehyde, 5-aminolevulinic acid, magnesium-porphyrins, and chlorophylls. Overexpression of CAO resulted in increased chlorophyll b synthesis and a decreased chlorophyll a/b ratio in low light-grown as well as high light-grown tobacco plants; this effect, however, was more pronounced in high light. The increased potential of the protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase activity and chlorophyll biosynthesis compensated for the usual loss of chlorophylls in high light. Increased chlorophyll b synthesis in CAO-overexpressed plants was accompanied not only by an increased abundance of light-harvesting chlorophyll proteins but also of other proteins of the electron transport chain, which led to an increase in the capture of light as well as enhanced (40%-80%) electron transport rates of photosystems I and II at both limiting and saturating light intensities. Although the quantum yield of carbon dioxide fixation remained unchanged, the light-saturated photosynthetic carbon assimilation, starch content, and dry matter accumulation increased in CAO-overexpressed plants grown in both low- and high-light regimes. These results demonstrate that controlled up-regulation of chlorophyll b biosynthesis comodulates the expression of several thylakoid membrane proteins that increase both the antenna size and the electron transport rates and enhance carbon dioxide assimilation, starch content, and dry matter accumulation.