The function of circadian clocks in the process of differentiation has
been shown in many multicellular organisms, however, how plant circadian
clocks regulate cell differentiation has remained unclear. The
researchers isolated individual cells in tiny glass tubes and analyzed
the expression of variousgenesrelated to circadian rhythms and cell
differentiation in each cell. They then developed a new algorithm called
PeakMatch to reconstruct actual-time gene expression patterns from the
single-cell datasets.

According to Motomu Endo, senior author of the study, this powerful
approach helped them demonstrate that the expression profile of clock
genes is changed before cell differentiation. This happens specifically
in early differentiating cells, as the induction of the clock gene LUX
ARRYTHMO directly targets genes involved in cell-cycle progression to
regulate cell differentiation.

A guiding role of the Arabidopsis circadian clock in cell
differentiation revealed by time-series single-cell RNA sequencing: Cell
Reports
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