Transcriptional Profiling of Clonal Cell Lines with Different Circadian Period

Composed of negative feedback loops, circadian oscillations are thought to be noise-resistant. Yet, individual cells in culture are remarkably heterogenous, oscillating independently and with different period lengths. To investigate the mechanisms underlying this heterogeneity, we generated and characterized hundreds of clonal cell lines from the same parent culture as well as subclones from clonal lines. By comparing clonal lines with different circadian periods, we identified a pool of candidate genes that determine periodicity. Divided 10 clonal cell lines and 24 subclones into different groups based on circadian period length. Compare transcriptional profiles from different groups to identify candidate genes responsible for circadian periodicity determination.