Tangential single-cell spatial transcriptomics resolves early ray lineage trajectory in poplar

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ID: 328416
2026
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Abstract
Vascular cambium drives secondary growth in woody plants, yet its closely related stem-cell populations-fusiform and ray initials-are difficult to distinguish, limiting resolution of early ray fate specification. In Populus tremula × P. alba clone 717, we integrated a two-year biweekly field survey of xylem ray anatomy with time-series stem transcriptomes and single-cell-resolution tangential spatial transcriptomics to resolve early ray-lineage states in situ. Across two growing seasons, ray cell number and size/area traits showed reproducible dynamics and were most strongly associated with daylength, radiation and temperature averaged over the preceding 1-4 weeks. Co-expression analysis identified gene modules that covary with ray traits and these environmental indices. By enhancing recovery of ray cambial cells through tangential sectioning, we generated a single-cell-resolution spatial transcriptomic atlas that distinguishes fusiform initial cells (FICs) and ray initial cells (RIC_1/2), and reconstructs a continuous early ray trajectory from FICs to RICs and xylem ray precursor cells (XRP_1-3), supported by RNA in situ hybridization. Integrating field-linked candidates, public scRNA-seq resources, and spatial markers, we identified 227 ray-lineage candidates, enriched for chromatin/nuclear functions and ribosome biogenesis, with relatively few transcription factors. These results provide stage-resolved markers and candidates for dissecting ray development and its seasonal environmental covariation.
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Authors Qi Cheng, Rui Ding, Ruoya Zhao, Sarmad Khalid, Shiyi Yang, Zhiyang Pei, Chengcheng Li, Longwei Mei, Jing Zhang, Long Dang, Jinfang Luo, Jinlong Wang, Chunmei Shi, Yong‐Jian Wang, Manzhu Bao, Quanzi Li, Bo Zheng, Xueping Shi
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Journal The Plant cell
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/plcell/koag275
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koag275
Keywords Keywords not found

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