Glutamate and clock help bean bugs track seasonal reproductive changes

by Sergio Hidalgo, Joanna C. Chiu

Animals adapt their seasonal physiology by measuring photoperiodic changes over the calendar year. A new study in PLOS Biology uncovers changes in glutamate dynamics in the bean bug that are dependent on photoperiod and a clock gene. Animals adapt their seasonal physiology by measuring photoperiodic changes over the calendar year, but the neuronal mechanisms conveying this information are unclear. This Primer explores a new PLOS Biology study that sheds light on this process by uncovering changes in glutamate dynamics that are dependent on photoperiod and a clock gene.