Fig. 4: Unique mesophyll subpopulations display a distinct gene expression program during drought recovery.
From: Drought recovery in plants triggers a cell-state-specific immune activation
a UMAP visualization of single-nucleus RNA-seq data from Arabidopsis leaf tissue, showing major cell types including refined cell type clusters. Mesophyll 2 (Mes 2) is selected for subclustering representation. b UMAPs of Mes 2 cells partitioned into five subclusters (0–4), colored by subcluster identity by water condition: well-watered (W), drought (D), 15 min post-rewatering (W15), and 15 min into recovery (R15). Subcluster 4 is highly enriched in recovery (R15) (red arrowhead), suggesting a recovery-specific cell state. Sugar mt = Sugar metabolic state. c Stacked bar plot showing the distribution of water conditions within each Mes 2 subcluster. Subcluster 4 contains the highest proportion of recovery (R15) nuclei. d Violin plots of module 3 abundance (hME score) across Mes 2 subclusters. Subcluster 4 shows elevated expression of this module. e Heatmap of module 3 top 25 hub genes, showing specific upregulation in subcluster 4. Asterisks denote genes significantly enriched (FDR < 0.001). f Spatial transcriptomic localization of SRC2, AT4G29780, and SZF1 across the four water conditions. Signal is enhanced in mesophyll cells, particularly during recovery. Insets highlight localized gene expression. Scale bars = 1 mm.
