mDrop-seq: Massively parallel single-cell RNA-seq of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and Candida Albicans

We present mDrop-seq, a high-throughput single cell RNA sequencing of two yeast species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a popular model organism and Candida albicans, a common opportunistic pathogen. We benchmark mDrop-seq for sensitivity and specificity and use the technique to profile 35,109 S. cerevisiae cells to detect variation in mRNA levels of S. cerevisiae. As proof of concept, we performed mDrop-seq on S. cerevisiae that underwent a heat shock treatment at 42°C. mDrop-seq is capable of detecting subtle variations in stress response within seemingly homogenous population of S. cerevisiae at single cell resolution. By changing lysis conditions, mDrop-seq is adapted to profile 4,006 C. albicans cells, a polymorphic and clinically relevant yeast species with thicker cell wall.本研究提出了mDrop-seq技术，一种可同时针对两种酵母菌开展高通量单细胞RNA测序的方法：酿酒酵母（Saccharomyces cerevisiae，常用模式生物）与白色念珠菌（Candida albicans，常见机会性致病菌）。我们对mDrop-seq的灵敏度与特异性进行了基准评测，并利用该技术对35109个酿酒酵母细胞进行转录组分析，以检测酿酒酵母的mRNA水平变化。作为概念验证，我们对经42℃热激处理的酿酒酵母开展了mDrop-seq测序。mDrop-seq能够以单细胞分辨率，在看似均一的酿酒酵母群体中检测到应激反应的细微差异。通过调整裂解条件，mDrop-seq可适配分析4006个白色念珠菌细胞——该物种为多态性且具有临床相关性的酵母菌，其细胞壁更厚。