Spatiotemporal regulation of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis at cellular resolution [RNA-seq]

To dissect the complexity of AM establishment in rice (Oryza sativa) roots colonized by Rhizophagus irregularis, we conducted spatial transcriptomics of plant and fungal genes at single-cell resolution.

This revealed differences in transcriptional activity between fungal structures and reprogramming of plant cell-identity markers upon colonization. Furthermore, cells hosting similarly developed arbuscules showed striking transcriptional heterogeneity, suggesting hidden functional diversity at the individual cell level. For stage-resolved profiling of translation, we used AM-stage specific Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification RNA sequencing (TRAP-seq) with promoters active at discrete stages of symbiosis or arbuscule development.