Circadian clock makes sure plant cells have the time of their lives



When it comes to cell cycle progression and differentiation, time truly is everything. Japanese scientists have now discovered that the circadian clock is essential for healthy plant development.

The circadian clock directs plant cell differentiation, according to a study from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) that was published in the journal Cell Reports.

The cell cycle and changes in cell fate are both regulated by the circadian clock. Numerous multicellular creatures have demonstrated the role of circadian clocks in the differentiation process, although it is still unknown how circadian clocks in plants control cell differentiation.

For Motomu Endo, senior author of the study, "elucidating how the circadian clock is engaged in cell differentiation is vital to understand the basis of cell fate determination." However, because it is difficult to separate individual plant cells and because current analytical techniques rely on "pseudo-time" analysis, which does not accurately reflect typical circadian rhythms, this has been difficult to explore in plants.

To overcome these difficulties, the researchers isolated individual cells from growing plants using tiny glass tubes, and then they examined the expression of numerous genes involved in cell differentiation and circadian rhythms in each cell. Then, using the single-cell information, they created a brand-new algorithm called PeakMatch to recreate real-time gene expression patterns.

This potent method allowed us to demonstrate that the expression profile of clock genes changes before cell differentiation, says Endo. In particular, the activation of the clock gene LUX ARRYTHMO directly targets genes involved in cell-cycle progression to govern cell differentiation in early differentiating cells.

Further research revealed that the production of the clock gene LUX, which directly promotes cell differentiation, is induced by significant alterations in the circadian clock profile in undifferentiated cells.

Overall, our findings demonstrate that the plant circadian clock directs cell differentiation, according to Endo. Importantly, our study offers a method for single-cell resolution time-series analysis.

The discovery that clock genes directly affect cell fate determination and cell division may help explain how cell differentiation is regulated in multicellular organisms because the establishment of circadian rhythms during cell differentiation is found in both animals and plants. Other creatures' single-cell transcriptomes of any kind can use the newly created PeakMatch algorithm.

Nara Institute of Science and Technology

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