A rare PRIMER cell state in plant immunity.
Tatsuya Nobori1,2,3,4, Alexander Monell1,5, Travis A Lee1,2,3
1Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Nature
|January 8, 2025
Summary
Plants utilize diverse cell states for immunity, including rare primary immune responder (PRIMER) cells and bystander cells. These cells communicate to propagate defense signals across leaves against pathogens.
Area of Science:
- Plant immunology
- Cellular biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Plants lack mobile immune cells, requiring localized cellular responses to pathogens.
- Understanding plant cellular immune states and their spatial organization is crucial for defense.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and characterize diverse cellular immune states in pathogen-infected Arabidopsis thaliana.
- To elucidate the gene-regulatory logic and spatial interactions of plant immune cells.
Main Methods:
- Time-resolved single-cell transcriptomics, epigenomics, and spatial transcriptomics.
- Infection of Arabidopsis thaliana with bacterial pathogens.
- Analysis of gene-regulatory networks and transcription factor activity.
Main Results:
- Identification of distinct cell states, including primary immune responder (PRIMER) cells and bystander cells.
- Discovery of a novel transcription factor, GT-3A, in PRIMER cells that enhances plant immunity.
- Characterization of cell-to-cell communication mechanisms for immune signaling propagation.
Conclusions:
- Plant immune responses involve complex interactions between specialized cell states.
- PRIMER cells and bystander cells coordinate to establish systemic immunity.
- A single-cell spatiotemporal atlas reveals functional insights into plant immune cell dynamics.
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