Musk shrews (Suncus murinus) were maintained for 8 weeks in long (16 h light:8 h darkness) or short (8 h light:16 h darkness) daylengths. Males housed in short daylength had significantly lighter androgen-dependent sex accessory organs than did males kept in long daylengths. This same trend was noted in male sexual behaviour. However, the weights of the testes and epididymides and sperm numbers...

From earliest times, psychiatrists have described biological rhythm disturbances as characteristic of mood disorders. The present flourishing of circadian biology has revealed the molecular basis of 24-h rhythmicity driven by 'clock' genes, as well as the importance of zeitgebers (synchronisers). Winter depression was first modelled on regulation of animal behaviour by seasonal changes in dayle...

Antifreeze proteins are found in a wide range of overwintering plants where they inhibit the growth and recrystallization of ice that forms in intercellular spaces. Unlike antifreeze proteins found in fish and insects, plant antifreeze proteins have multiple, hydrophilic ice-binding domains. Surprisingly, antifreeze proteins from plants are homologous to pathogenesis-related proteins and also p...