The circadian clock plays a pervasive role in the temporal
regulation of plant physiology, environmental responsiveness,
and development. In contrast, the phytohormone auxin plays a similarly far-reaching role in the spatial
regulation of plant growth and development. Went and Thimann noted 70 years ago that plant
sensitivity to auxin varied according to the time of day, an observation that they could not explain. Here we present work that explains this puzzle, demonstrating that the circadian clock regulates auxin signal transduction. Using genome-wide transcriptional profiling, we found many auxin-induced genes are under clock regulation. We verified that endogenous auxin signaling is clock regulated with a luciferase-based assay. Exogenous auxin has only modest effects on the plant clock, but the clock controls plant sensitivity to applied auxin. Notably, we found both transcriptional and growth responses to exogenous auxin are gated by the clock. Thus the circadian clock regulates some, and perhaps all, auxin responses. Consequently, many aspects of plant physiology not previously thought to be under circadian control may show time-of-dayspecific sensitivity, with likely important consequences for plant growth and environmental responses.