Agro-chronobiology: Integrating circadian clocks /time biology into
storage management
Daphna Gottlieb
Department of Food Quality & Safety, Institute for Postharvest and Food Sciences, The Volcani Center, ARO, Derech HaMaccabim Road 68, POB 15159,
Rishon-LeZion, 7528809, Israel
article info
Article history:
Received 15 November 2018
Received in revised form
29 January 2019
Accepted 13 March 2019
Keywords:
Agro-chronobiology
Storage insects
Circadian rhythms
Circadian clock
Integrated pest management
Chronotoxicity
abstract
Almost all organisms on earth are adapted to anticipate daily environmental cycles and synchronize with
these approximately 24-h rhythms by a circadian clock system. Given its importance to organismal
success, the field of chronobiology is rapidly expanding unraveling the complex and integral role
circadian clocks play. In applied science, these new insights have led to major advances mainly in the
field of medicine. In the field of plant rearing and livestock management, the importance of circadian
clocks is already acknowledged. Integrating circadian clocks in insect pest management has mainly
received theoretical attention. Applying theory to practice is likely delayed because of the difficulty in
managing an open environment. The storage environment is easier to control and therefore basic ideas of
integrating circadian clocks to pest management could be applied. A cardinal difficulty in storage
management is that storage insects develop resistance to common pesticides. This difficulty can be
addressed by various manipulations of the insect's chronobiology. In this review, I discuss the various
clock-driven behavioural, physiological and genomic processes that might be considered as sensitive
targets for agro-chronobiology control. I further suggest that to promote the discipline of agro-
chronobiology, the contribution of previous and current studies to the two following approaches in
agro-chronobiology should be examined: 1) treating the vulnerable phases of the circadian clock, and 2)
distorting the circadian clock system.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 10
1.1. Methods .............................................................. ...................................................... 10
2. From genes to complex behaviour .................................................................................................... 11
2.1. Genes ................................................................ ....................................................... 11
2.1.1. Detoxification ......................................................................................................... 12
2.2. Physiology ............................................................. ..................................................... 12
2.2.1. Respiratory physiology ................................................................................................ 12
2.2.2. Rhythmic sperm release ................................................... ............................................ 12
2.2.3. Hormonal secretion ................................................................................................... 13
2.3. Behaviour .............................................................. ..................................................... 13
2.3.1. Locomotion ......................................................... ................................................. 13
2.3.2. Feeding .............................................................................................................. 13
2.3.3. Courtship and mating ................................................................................................. 13
2.4. Photoperiodism .............................................................................................................. 14
3. Concluding remarks ................................................................................................................ 14
3.1. Agro-chronobiology paradigm in storage management ........................................ ................................... 14
3.2. Agro-chronobiology paradigm .................................................................................................. 14
E-mail address: Gottlieb.daphna@gmail.com.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Stored Products Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jspr
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jspr.2019.03.003
0022-474X/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Journal of Stored Products Research 82 (2019) 9e16