Expression profiles of bladder and stalk cell enriched epidermal peels from Chenopdium quinoa. Expression profiles of bladder and stalk cell enriched epidermal peels from Chenopdium quinoa

Quinoa, like a large fraction of halophytes, use so-called bladder cells to detoxify excess salt. These leaf exterior structures are formed by specialized trichomes and consist of a leaf epidermal cell, a stalk cell and the bladder cell itself. Under salt stress, Na+ and Cl- as well as K+ and metabolites are imported from leaf sources and stored in the bladder. During this process the stalk cell simultaneously operates as both a selectivity filter and a flux controller. We submerged detached leaves in buffer, then lightly brushed the abaxial surface with a fine paintbrush to remove only the EBCs. The abaxial epidermis was then removed using tweezers and sampled in buffer for RNA extraction and RNA sequencing to separate the gene expression profiles of stalk cells from bladders and leaves.