单细胞技术进展及其在植物研究中的应用

多细胞生物体的生存依赖于不同类型细胞特异性的功能分工,不同类型的细胞尽管基因组相同,但有其独特的发育过程和应对环境变化的能力。生物学的一大挑战就是揭示基因如何在正确的位置、正确的时间表达到正确的水平,最近出现了很多通过细胞类型特异性方法研究单细胞组学的工具,这些新技术使我们能通过空前分辨率,理解多细胞生物体内不同类型的单个细胞基因表达特点及其适应环境变化的机制。单细胞样品的获取一直是单细胞研究的一大技术瓶颈,因此本文将以如何获得起始材料为重点,探讨单细胞研究的样品标记、单细胞分离及获取、组学数据分析和结果验证等技术方法及其在植物研究中的应用。

Advances in Single-Cell Technology and Their Application in Plant Research

The survival of multicellular organisms depends on the functional division of different types of cells. Although specific cell types share the same genome, they have unique developmental programs, as well as different abilities to play their role during development and respond to environmental variation. Thus, a key challenge in biology is to understand how genes are expressed in the right cells at the right time and at the right level. Recently, many novel tools have been developed for single-cell-omics research using cell-type-specific methods. These innovations enable us to understand the mechanisms of gene regulation in single cells and their adaptation to environmental changes with unprecedented resolution. The isolation of single-cell samples has long been a bottleneck to relevant study; however, there are some useful techniques available. In this paper, we discuss techniques for sample labeling, isolation and collection of single cells, -omics data analysis and validation for single-cell analysis, and their application for plant research.