Drop-Seq for plants: High-throughput, single cell transcriptomics (Cell Reports)

Drop-Seq is an exciting high-throughput technology for single cell transcriptomics. Using microfluidics, single cells are encapsulated in drops with beads carrying “bar-coded” primers. The RNA from each individual cell is labeled with a unique primer code, then sequenced. Now, Shulse et al. have adapted this method for use with plant cells (requiring an additional protoplasting step), and demonstrated its effectiveness by generating a transcriptomic dataset from more than 12,000 cells. The authors explore the effect of added sucrose on transcriptional profiles, and track the changes in gene expression in endodermal cells through development, demonstrating the broad applicability of this method. (Summary by Mary Williams)  Cell Rep. 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.04.054