scholarly journals Single nucleus analysis of Arabidopsis seeds reveals new cell types and imprinting dynamics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colette L. Picard ◽  
Rebecca A. Povilus ◽  
Ben P. Williams ◽  
Mary Gehring

AbstractSeeds are the basis of agriculture, yet their full transcriptional complexity has remained unknown. Here, we employ single-nucleus RNA-sequencing to characterize developing Arabidopsis thaliana seeds, with a focus on endosperm. Endosperm, the site of gene imprinting in plants, mediates the relationship between the maternal parent and embryo. We identify new cell types in the chalazal endosperm region, which interfaces with maternal tissue for nutrient unloading. We further demonstrate that the extent of parental bias of maternally expressed imprinted genes varies with cell cycle phase, and that imprinting of paternally expressed imprinted genes is strongest in chalazal endosperm. These data indicate imprinting in endosperm is heterogeneous and suggest that parental conflict, which is proposed to drive the evolution of imprinting, is fiercest at the boundary between filial and maternal tissues.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiaowen Joyce Hsiao ◽  
PoYuan Tung ◽  
John D. Blischak ◽  
Jonathan E. Burnett ◽  
Kenneth A. Barr ◽  
...  

AbstractCellular heterogeneity in gene expression is driven by cellular processes such as cell cycle and cell-type identity, and cellular environment such as spatial location. The cell cycle, in particular, is thought to be a key driver of cell-to-cell heterogeneity in gene expression, even in otherwise homogeneous cell populations. Recent advances in single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) facilitate detailed characterization of gene expression heterogeneity, and can thus shed new light on the processes driving heterogeneity. Here, we combined fluorescence imaging with scRNA-seq to measure cell cycle phase and gene expression levels in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Using these data, we developed a novel approach to characterize cell cycle progression. While standard methods assign cells to discrete cell cycle stages, our method goes beyond this, and quantifies cell cycle progression on a continuum. We found that, on average, scRNA-seq data from only five genes predicted a cell’s position on the cell cycle continuum to within 14% of the entire cycle, and that using more genes did not improve this accuracy. Our data and predictor of cell cycle phase can directly help future studies to account for cell-cycle-related heterogeneity in iPSCs. Our results and methods also provide a foundation for future work to characterize the effects of the cell cycle on expression heterogeneity in other cell types.


1984 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.J. Weijer ◽  
G. Duschl ◽  
C.N. David

The relationship between the cell cycle phase of vegetative amoebae and prestalk and prespore differentiation in the slug stage were investigated in the slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum. Cells were synchronized by release from the stationary phase. Samples were taken at various times during the course of a synchronous cell doubling, fluorescently labelled and mixed with cells of random cell cycle phase from exponentially growing cultures. The fate of the fluorescently labelled cells was recorded at the slug stage. Cells early in the cycle exhibit strong prestalk sorting; cells taken later in the cycle exhibit strong prespore sorting. The period of prestalk sorting occurs immediately following mitosis and lasts about 1 h in a cell cycle of about 7 h duration. Accompanying the altered sorting behaviour is a marked changed in the prestalk-prespore proportions in slugs formed from synchronized populations of cells. Cells synchronized early in the cycle form slugs with 55% prespore cells; cells synchronized late in the cycle form slugs with 90% prespore. The results are discussed in terms of models for the formation of the prestalk-prespore pattern in slugs.


Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 2112
Author(s):  
Fatma Rabia Urun ◽  
Adrian W Moore

In neural precursors, cell cycle regulators simultaneously control both progression through the cell cycle and the probability of a cell fate switch. Precursors act in lineages, where they transition through a series of cell types, each of which has a unique molecular identity and cellular behavior. Thus, investigating links between cell cycle and cell fate control requires simultaneous identification of precursor type and cell cycle phase, as well as an ability to read out additional regulatory factor expression or activity. We use a combined FUCCI-EdU labelling protocol to do this, and then apply it to the embryonic olfactory neural lineage, in which the spatial position of a cell correlates with its precursor identity. Using this integrated model, we find the CDKi p27KIP1 has different regulation relative to cell cycle phase in neural stem cells versus intermediate precursors. In addition, Hes1, which is the principle transcriptional driver of neural stem cell self-renewal, surprisingly does not regulate p27KIP1 in this cell type. Rather, Hes1 indirectly represses p27KIP1 levels in the intermediate precursor cells downstream in the lineage. Overall, the experimental model described here enables investigation of cell cycle and cell fate control linkage from a single precursor through to a lineage systems level.


Cytometry ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie S. Rudolph ◽  
Betsy M. Ohlsson-Wilhelm ◽  
James F. Leary ◽  
Peter T. Rowley

1990 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 986-992
Author(s):  
Takeshi KONO ◽  
Tsukasa TANII ◽  
Masayoshi FURUKAWA ◽  
Nobuyuki MIZUNO ◽  
Shoji TANIGUCHI ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. eabd9036
Author(s):  
Sara Saez-Atienzar ◽  
Sara Bandres-Ciga ◽  
Rebekah G. Langston ◽  
Jonggeol J. Kim ◽  
Shing Wan Choi ◽  
...  

Despite the considerable progress in unraveling the genetic causes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we do not fully understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease. We analyzed genome-wide data involving 78,500 individuals using a polygenic risk score approach to identify the biological pathways and cell types involved in ALS. This data-driven approach identified multiple aspects of the biology underlying the disease that resolved into broader themes, namely, neuron projection morphogenesis, membrane trafficking, and signal transduction mediated by ribonucleotides. We also found that genomic risk in ALS maps consistently to GABAergic interneurons and oligodendrocytes, as confirmed in human single-nucleus RNA-seq data. Using two-sample Mendelian randomization, we nominated six differentially expressed genes (ATG16L2, ACSL5, MAP1LC3A, MAPKAPK3, PLXNB2, and SCFD1) within the significant pathways as relevant to ALS. We conclude that the disparate genetic etiologies of this fatal neurological disease converge on a smaller number of final common pathways and cell types.


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