Guo Xiaorui, Zhao Aiju, Han Jiangwei, Yuping Liu, Chen Xiyong, Cheng Ziyi, Hou Liang, Lv Liangjie
Institute of Cereal and Oil Crops, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050031, China.
Crop Genetics and Breeding Laboratory of Hebei, Shijiazhuang 050031, China.
J Agric Food Chem. 2025 May 7;73(18):10764-10777. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.4c12749. Epub 2025 Apr 27.
Drought is a major factor limiting the production and yield of wheat bread (). Therefore, investigating the wheat drought-related response mechanism is an urgent priority. Here, the single-cell transcriptome of drought-nonsusceptible and susceptible wheat seedlings subjected to PEG-induced stress was systematically analyzed to study the drought-related response at the cellular level. We identified five major cell types using known marker genes and constructed a wheat leaf cell atlas. On this foundation, several potential specific marker genes for each cell type were identified, which provide a reference for further cell type annotation. Moreover, we identified cellular heterogeneity in the drought-related response mechanisms and regulatory networks among cell types. Specifically, the drought response of mesophyll cells was correlated with the photosynthetic pathway. Pseudotime trajectory analysis revealed the transition of epidermal cells from their normal function to a defense response under stress. Moreover, we also characterized the genes associated with the drought response. Notably, we identified two transcription factors ( and ) as master regulators in most cell types. Our study provides detailed insights into the response heterogeneity of cells under PEG-induced stress. The gene resources obtained in our study could be applied to breed better crop plants with improved drought tolerance.
干旱是限制小麦产量的主要因素。因此，研究小麦的干旱相关响应机制迫在眉睫。在此，我们系统分析了经聚乙二醇（PEG）诱导胁迫处理的耐旱和敏感小麦幼苗的单细胞转录组，以在细胞水平研究干旱相关响应。我们使用已知的标记基因鉴定出五种主要细胞类型，并构建了小麦叶片细胞图谱。在此基础上，我们鉴定出了每种细胞类型的几个潜在特异性标记基因，为进一步的细胞类型注释提供了参考。此外，我们还鉴定出细胞类型间干旱相关响应机制和调控网络中的细胞异质性。具体而言，叶肉细胞的干旱响应与光合途径相关。拟时间轨迹分析揭示了表皮细胞在胁迫下从正常功能向防御响应的转变。此外，我们还对与干旱响应相关的基因进行了表征。值得注意的是，我们鉴定出两个转录因子（和）为大多数细胞类型中的主要调控因子。我们的研究为PEG诱导胁迫下细胞的响应异质性提供了详细见解。我们研究中获得的基因资源可用于培育具有更高耐旱性的优良作物品种。
