美国索尔克生物研究所Joseph R. Ecker团队发现植物免疫中的一种罕见PRIMER细胞状态。该项研究成果于2025年1月8日在线发表在《自然》杂志上。

研究人员通过细菌病原感染拟南芥叶片（这些病原可以触发或抑制免疫反应），并结合时间分辨的单细胞转录组学、表观基因组学和空间转录组学数据来识别细胞状态。研究人员描述了细胞状态特异性的基因调控逻辑，涉及转录因子、假定的顺式调控元件和与疾病和免疫相关的靶基因。

研究人员发现，在免疫活跃的热点交汇处出现了一种罕见的细胞群体，被称之为初级免疫应答（PRIMER）细胞。PRIMER细胞具有非常规的免疫特征，表现为先前未表征的转录因子GT-3A的表达和基因组可及性，GT-3A有助于植物抵御细菌病原。PRIMER细胞被另一种细胞状态（旁观者）包围，旁观者细胞激活了远距离细胞间免疫信号传递的基因。

综合来看，该研究表明，这些细胞状态之间的相互作用在整个叶片中传播免疫反应。分子定义的单细胞时空图谱为植物中免疫细胞状态的功能和调控提供了深入的见解。

研究人员表示，植物缺乏专门的和可移动的免疫细胞。因此，任何遇到病原的细胞类型都必须发起免疫反应，并与周围细胞进行通讯以实现成功的防御。然而，病原感染植物中细胞免疫状态的多样性、空间组织和功能尚不十分清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: A rare PRIMER cell state in plant immunity

Author: Nobori, Tatsuya, Monell, Alexander, Lee, Travis A., Sakata, Yuka, Shirahama, Shoma, Zhou, Jingtian, Nery, Joseph R., Mine, Akira, Ecker, Joseph R.

Issue&Volume: 2025-01-08

Abstract: Plants lack specialized and mobile immune cells. Consequently, any cell type that encounters pathogens must mount immune responses and communicate with surrounding cells for successful defence. However, the diversity, spatial organization and function of cellular immune states in pathogen-infected plants are poorly understood1. Here we infect Arabidopsis thaliana leaves with bacterial pathogens that trigger or supress immune responses and integrate time-resolved single-cell transcriptomic, epigenomic and spatial transcriptomic data to identify cell states. We describe cell-state-specific gene-regulatory logic that involves transcription factors, putative cis-regulatory elements and target genes associated with disease and immunity. We show that a rare cell population emerges at the nexus of immune-active hotspots, which we designate as primary immune responder (PRIMER) cells. PRIMER cells have non-canonical immune signatures, exemplified by the expression and genome accessibility of a previously uncharacterized transcription factor, GT-3A, which contributes to plant immunity against bacterial pathogens. PRIMER cells are surrounded by another cell state (bystander) that activates genes for long-distance cell-to-cell immune signalling. Together, our findings suggest that interactions between these cell states propagate immune responses across the leaf. Our molecularly defined single-cell spatiotemporal atlas provides functional and regulatory insights into immune cell states in plants.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08383-z

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08383-z