How does a plant detect the changing seasons and make important developmental decisions accordingly? How do they incorporate daylength information into their routine physiological processes? Photoperiodism, or the capacity to measure the daylength, is a crucial aspect of plant development that helps plants determine the best time of the year to make vital decisions, such as flowering. The protein CONSTANS (CO) constitutes the central regulator of this sensing mechanism, not only activating florigen production in the leaves but also participating in many physiological aspects in which seasonality is important. Recent discoveries place CO in the center of a gene network that can determine the length of the day and confer seasonal input to aspects of plant development and physiology as important as senescence, seed size, or circadian rhythms. In this review, we discuss the importance of CO protein structure, function, and evolutionary mechanisms that embryophytes have developed to incorporate annual information into their physiology.

中文翻译：

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CONSTANS，四季皆宜的枢纽：光周期如何渗透到植物生理调节回路中

植物如何检测季节变化并相应地做出重要的发育决策？他们如何将日长信息纳入日常生理过程？光周期现象或测量日长的能力是植物发育的一个重要方面，它可以帮助植物确定一年中做出重要决定（例如开花）的最佳时间。蛋白质 CONSTANS (CO) 构成了这种传感机制的中央调节器，不仅激活叶子中成花素的产生，而且还参与许多季节性重要的生理方面。最近的发现将二氧化碳置于基因网络的中心，该网络可以决定一天的长度，并为植物发育和生理学方面提供季节性输入，与衰老、种子大小或昼夜节律一样重要。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了 CO 蛋白结构、功能和进化机制的重要性，这些机制是有胚植物为了将年度信息纳入其生理学而发展起来的。