We describe a novel and highly sensitive method for the differential display of mRNAs, called ADDER (Amplification of Double-stranded cDNA End Restriction fragments). The technique involves the construction and PCR amplification of double-stranded cDNA restriction fragments complementary to 3′-terminal mRNA sequences. Aliquots of these cDNA fragments are then amplified by touchdown PCR with 192 pairs of display primers (16 upstream primers and 12 downstream primers) that differ in their ultimate and penultimate nucleotides and the PCR products are compared by size-fractionation on urea–polyacrylamide sequencing gels. By using the ADDER technology for the comparison of liver RNAs harvested at different times around the clock we detected nearly 300 cDNA fragments complementary to mRNAs with circadian accumulation profiles and sequenced 51 of them. The majority of these cDNAs correspond to genes which were not previously known to be rhythmically expressed. A large fraction of the identified genes encoded factors involved in the processing and detoxification of nutrients. This suggests that a primary purpose of circadian transcription in the liver is the anticipation of food processing and detoxification. Several genes involved in human disease were also identified, including the one encoding presenilin II, a protein implicated in the development of Alzheimer's Disease.