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Published on: January 19, 2017
Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals FLS2-Dependent Hypoxia Signaling and ERF13-Mediated Transcription During
Yaping Zhou1, Aizhi Qin1, Mengfan Li1
1National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, 85 Minglun Street, Kaifeng, Henan, China.
The flagellin peptide flg22 triggers plant immunity, growth inhibition, and oxidative burst. This study reveals cell-type-specific immune responses and identifies ERF13 as a key regulator linking immunity, hypoxia, and growth in Arabidopsis.
Area of Science:
- Plant immunity and stress responses
- Molecular and cellular biology
- Genetics and genomics
Background:
- The flagellin peptide flg22 is a key immune trigger in Arabidopsis, activating FLAGELLIN-SENSING 2 (FLS2)-mediated immunity.
- FLS2 activation leads to well-documented responses like growth inhibition and oxidative burst, but cell-type-specific regulation is poorly understood.
- Potential crosstalk between plant immune pathways and other stress responses, such as hypoxia, is an emerging area of investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically map cell-type-specific, flg22-induced immune responses in Arabidopsis at a single-cell level.
- To investigate the crosstalk between plant immunity and hypoxia signaling pathways.
- To identify key regulators, like ERF13, that integrate immune, hypoxia, and growth signaling.
Main Methods:
- Employed single-cell RNA sequencing to analyze flg22-induced transcriptional changes across different cell types.
- Utilized genetic approaches, including mutants (fls2, ate1, prt6, zpr2, erf13, sim smr, e2fabc, cpr5) and overexpression lines, to dissect regulatory pathways.
- Performed phenotyping assays to assess growth inhibition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and immunity (PTI and ETI).
Main Results:
- flg22 suppressed growth and elevated ROS in a FLS2-dependent manner, with distinct transcriptional reprogramming observed in epidermal and mesophyll cells.
- A hypoxia-like response was induced by flg22, and mutants in hypoxia signaling (ate1, prt6, zpr2) exhibited reduced flg22 sensitivity.
- ERF13 was identified as a central regulator; erf13 mutants showed impaired flg22 responses but enhanced ETI, while ERF13 overexpression boosted PTI. flg22-induced cell-cycle alterations were modulated by hypoxia and ERF13.
Conclusions:
- Immune, hypoxia, and ROS signals converge through ERF13 to orchestrate a balance between plant immunity and growth.
- This study provides a single-cell resolution of spatial immune organization and stress adaptation mechanisms in plants.
- The findings highlight the intricate integration of diverse stress pathways for optimizing plant defense and survival.
