Local Control of Circadian Rhythms in Lettuce Leaves Using Laser

The circadian rhythm is a biological clock with an approximately 24 hour period. This rhythm is observed in many living organisms. In plant, the cells are known to act as coupled oscillators by clock gene expression and cell-cell interaction, resulting that the phase wave and spiral wave can be observed in leaf as a two-dimensional self-oscillatory system. In this study, we experiment on local control of circadian rhythms in leaves of genetically modified plants using LCD projector and laser projector. Our results recognized that the circadian rhythm can be controlled by spatiotemporal illumination using low-power laser projector.