Neurospora crassa as a model organism to explore the interconnected network of the cell cycle and the circadian clock

Budding and fission yeast pioneered uncovering molecular mechanisms of eukaryotic cell division cycles. However, they do not possess canonical circadian clock machinery that regulates physiological processes with a period of about 24 h. On the other hand, Neurospora crassa played a critical role in elucidating molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythms, but have not been utilized frequently for cell cycle studies. Recent findings demonstrate that there exists a conserved coupling between the cell cycle and the circadian clock from N.crassa to Mus musculus, which poses Neurospora as an ideal model organism to investigate molecular mechanisms and emerging behavior of the coupled network of the cell cycle and circadian rhythms. In this review, we briefly describe generic eukaryotic cell cycle regulation focusing on G1/S and G2/M transitions, and highlight that these transitions may be targeted for the circadian clock to influence timing of cell division cycles.