= CONSTANS
{c}
<CONSTANS> is an <Arabidopsis thaliana> transcriptional regulator involved in <photoperiodism>. Its daily expression pattern and light-dependent <protein> regulation help activate <FLOWERING LOCUS T> when internal timing coincides with suitable illumination.
The useful comparison is not merely long days versus short days: changing the phase of <light> relative to the regulator's availability tests the coincidence mechanism. This explains how a <plant> can use a daily <light> pattern as seasonal information.<Photoreceptor regulation of CONSTANS protein in photoperiodic flowering by Federico Valverde and others>[2004, pp. 1003–1006]{ref}
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