Cell Rep: Reconstructing real-time gene expression patterns from single-cell RNAseq datasets

, People say that time is everything, and this couldn't be more true when it comes to cell cycle progression and differentiatio.

In a report published in Cell in the United States, researchers at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) revealed that the biological clock plays a guiding role in plant cell differentiatio.

The circadian clock is involved in cell cycle progression and cell fate transition.

"Elucidating how the circadian clock is involved in cell differentiation is important for understanding the basis of cell fate decisions," explains Motomu Endo, senior author of the stud.

To address these challenges, the researchers used tiny glass tubes to isolate individual cells from developing plants and analyzed the expression of various genes involved in circadian rhythms and cell differentiation in each cel.

"Using this powerful method, we were able to show that the expression profile of clock genes changes prior to cell differentiation," Endo sai.

Further studies showed that large-scale changes in the circadian clock profile in undifferentiated cells induce the expression of the clock gene LUX, which directly triggers cell differentiatio.

"Taken together, our findings suggest that the plant's circadian clock plays a guiding role in cell differentiation," Endo sai.

Because the development of circadian rhythms during cell differentiation can be observed in both animals and plants, the discovery that clock genes directly regulate cell fate determination and cell division may help to understand how cell differentiation is controlled in multicellular organism.

article title

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