Application of single-cell sequencing levels in plants in response to abiotic stress

Plants exhibit highly complex and cell-type-specific response mechanisms under abiotic stresses such as drought, high salinity, and nutrient deficiency. The rapid development of single-cell RNA sequencing technologies has provided a powerful new tool for in-depth analysis of cellular heterogeneity, dynamic gene expression, and regulatory networks during plant stress responses. Compared to traditional bulk RNA-seq, single-cell sequencing can reveal key functional cell subpopulations and their fate trajectories at the cellular level, advancing stress response research to a more refined scale. Currently, single-cell transcriptomics has achieved groundbreaking progress in plants such as Arabidopsis, rice, maize, and wheat, successfully deciphering cell-type-specific gene expression networks in roots, leaves, and other tissues under drought, salt stress, and nutrient deficiency. Although challenges remain, such as complex plant cell wall structures, difficulties in protoplast preparation, and insufficient data annotation, this technology demonstrates great potential in precisely identifying stress-resistant cell subpopulations, uncovering key regulatory genes, and guiding molecular breeding. In the future, with the optimization of single-cell sequencing and the integration of multi-omics analyses, it will provide even stronger support for elucidating plant abiotic stress responses and their agricultural applications.