Endogenous rhythms in deep-sea mussel cell culture and molecular clock characterization.

Bathymodiolus azoricus cell cultures exhibit endogenous circadian oscillations under constant conditions at -1700 m, despite the natural environment’s tidal-dominant rhythms.

• Why it matters: The deep sea was long viewed as arrhythmic, and it was unclear whether internal clocks drive rhythmic behavior at hydrothermal vents where diel cues are absent.
• What they did: The study cultured isolated mussel cells under constant conditions and used reporter assays with genomic regions upstream of the mussel's per containing E-box motifs to test for a transcription-translation feedback loop.
• The result: Reporter activity and clock-component behavior indicate a functional TTFL contributes to circadian timing, with BazPeriod lacking autonomous repressive activity but modulating BazCry2.

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