“Internal clock helps plants respond to dangerous stress”

Key points

• Study shows plant circadian clock helps respond to salt stress.
• Clock protein TIC forms nuclear droplets to switch on protective genes.
• Plants lacking TIC showed vulnerability to salt and altered 21-hour clocks.
• Synchronizing clock with 24-hour day improves salt tolerance in experiments.
• Findings suggest breeding or gene editing could boost crop resilience to salinity.