A single-cell plume transcriptome atlas of the cold-seep tubeworm Paraescarpia echinospica.

Vestimentiferan tubeworms are representative species in deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystems. Unlike most animals, these invertebrates lack mouths and digestive systems. Instead, their plumes function as the primary organ for direct metabolic exchange with the environment. Here, we present the single-cell transcriptome atlas of the Paraescarpia echinospica plume, offering single-cell resolution analysis for a deep-sea tubeworm. Our analysis revealed six cell clusters, namely hemocytes, proliferative cells, muscle cells, epithelial cells, nerve1 cells, and nerve2 cells, and we further characterized genes associated with immunity and transport. These findings establish a crucial foundation for future single-cell studies of tubeworms.