Single-Cell Transcriptomics Sheds Light on the Identity and Metabolism of Developing Arabidopsis Leaf Cells

Being the main photosynthetic instrument of vascular plants, leaves are crucial and complex plant organs. To establish the single-cell transcriptomic landscape of these different leaf tissues, we performed high-throughput transcriptome sequencing of individual cells isolated from young leaves of Arabidopsis seedlings grown in two different environmental conditions. The detection of ~19,000 different transcripts in over 1,800 high-quality leaf cells revealed 14 cell populations composing the young, differentiating leaf.