ArticleNature plants2021
Quantitative imaging of RNA polymerase II activity in plants reveals the single-cell basis of tissue-wide transcriptional dynamics.
Article in Nature plants, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed.
- A binding-activated CRISPR/dCas13X imaging system enables precise RNA tracking in plants.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Single-cell transcriptional dynamics in a living vertebrate.Cell systems · 2026Article
- Quantitative RNA spatial profiling using single-molecule RNA FISH on plant tissue cryosections.Plant communications · 2026Article
- A four-dimensional spatial transcriptome atlas of barley caryopsis development and germination.The Plant cell · 2026Article
- Graded versus ON/OFF control in quantitative gene expression and epigenetic memory.The EMBO journal · 2026Review
- Decoupling between activation time and steady-state level in input-output responses.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Gene body methylation buffers noise in gene expression in plants.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Coordinated single-nucleus responses for quantitative disease resistance involve a calcium-associated switch in transcriptional noise.Genome biology · 2025Article
- Genome-scale transcriptome augmentation during Arabidopsis thaliana photomorphogenesis.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Decoupling between activation time and steady-state level in input-output responses.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Quantitative dissection of Agrobacterium T-DNA expression in single plant cells reveals density-dependent synergy and antagonism.Nature plants · 2025Article
- A split ribozyme system for in vivo plant RNA imaging and genetic engineering.Plant biotechnology journal · 2025Article
- DRMY1 promotes robust morphogenesis in Arabidopsis by sustaining the translation of cytokinin-signaling inhibitor proteins.Developmental cell · 2024Article
- Molecular Spies in Action: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Biosensors Light up Cellular Signals.Chemical reviews · 2024Review
- Optogenetic dissection of transcriptional repression in a multicellular organism.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Bet-hedging and variability in plant development: seed germination and beyond.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Review
- A Travel through Landscapes of Seed Dormancy.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- The mRNA mobileome: challenges and opportunities for deciphering signals from the noise.The Plant cell · 2023Review
- Minimal synthetic enhancers reveal control of the probability of transcriptional engagement and its timing by a morphogen gradient.Cell systems · 2023Article
- CRISPR-dCas13-tracing reveals transcriptional memory and limited mRNA export in developing zebrafish embryos.Genome biology · 2023Article
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Abstract
The responses of plants to their environment are often dependent on the spatiotemporal dynamics of transcriptional regulation. While live-imaging tools have been used extensively to quantitatively capture rapid transcriptional dynamics in living animal cells, the lack of implementation of these technologies in plants has limited concomitant quantitative studies in this kingdom. Here, we applied the PP7 and MS2 RNA-labelling technologies for the quantitative imaging of RNA polymerase II activity dynamics in single cells of living plants as they respond to experimental treatments. Using this technology, we counted nascent RNA transcripts in real time in Nicotiana benthamiana (tobacco) and Arabidopsis thaliana. Examination of heat shock reporters revealed that plant tissues respond to external signals by modulating the proportion of cells that switch from an undetectable basal state to a high-transcription state, instead of modulating the rate of transcription across all cells in a graded fashion. This switch-like behaviour, combined with cell-to-cell variability in transcription rate, results in mRNA production variability spanning three orders of magnitude. We determined that cellular heterogeneity stems mainly from stochasticity intrinsic to individual alleles instead of variability in cellular composition. Together, our results demonstrate that it is now possible to quantitatively study the dynamics of transcriptional programs in single cells of living plants.
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