Pittendrigh C S, Caldarola P C
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Sep;70(9):2697-701. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.9.2697.
Some well-defined statistical regularities characterize the change in period (tau) of cockroach circadian oscillations subjected to a large temperature step. These are explainable in terms of the well-known temperature-compensation (homeostasis) of tau of circadian oscillations. The same regularities are detectable in published data on the effect of several other variables affecting several other circadian oscillations. The proposition is then developed that the temperature-compensation of tau is only a special case of a general homeostatic conservation of the frequency of circadian oscillations in the face of all changes they are likely to encounter in the cell. Such a general homeostasis of tau is a functional prerequisite for an oscillator to function as a useful "clock."
一些明确的统计规律表征了蟑螂昼夜节律振荡在经受大幅度温度阶跃时周期(τ)的变化。这些规律可以根据昼夜节律振荡中τ的著名的温度补偿(稳态)来解释。在关于其他几个影响其他昼夜节律振荡的变量效应的已发表数据中也能检测到相同的规律。于是提出这样一个观点,即τ的温度补偿只是在面对细胞中昼夜节律振荡可能遇到的所有变化时,昼夜节律振荡频率的一般稳态守恒的一个特殊情况。这种τ的一般稳态是振荡器作为一个有用的“时钟”发挥作用的功能前提。