Adaptation to starvation requires a flexible circadian clockwork in Neurospora crassa (RNAseq)

The circadian clock governs rhythmic cellular functions by driving
expression of a substantial fraction of the genome and thereby
significantly contributes to the adaptation to changing environmental
conditions. Using the circadian model organism Neurospora crassa, we show
that molecular timekeeping is robust even under severe limitation of
carbon sources, however, stoichiometry, phosphorylation and subcellular
distribution of the key clock components display drastic alterations.
Protein kinase A, protein phosphatase 2A and glycogen synthase kinase are
involved in the molecular reorganization of the clock. RNA-seq analysis
reveals that the transcriptomic response of metabolism to starvation is
highly dependent on the positive clock component WC-1. Moreover, our
molecular and phenotypic data indicate that a functional clock facilitates
recovery from starvation.  We suggest that the molecular clock is
a flexible network that allows the organism to maintain a rhythmic
physiology and preserve fitness even under long-term nutritional stress.