The plant community lags far behind the animal and human fields concerning the application of single-cell methodologies. This is primarily due to the challenges associated with plant tissue dissection and the limitations of the available technologies. However, recent advances in spatial transcriptomics enable the study of single-cells derived from plant tissues from a spatial perspective. This technology is already successfully used to identify cell types, reconstruct cell-fate lineages, and reveal cell-to-cell interactions. Future technological advancements will overcome the challenges in sample processing, data analysis, and the integration of multiple-omics technologies. Thanks to spatial transcriptomics, we anticipate several plant research projects to significantly advance our understanding of critical aspects of plant biology.
Keywords: cell type identification; cell-to-cell interactions; developmental lineages; single-cell multi-omics; single-cell resolution; spatial transcriptomics.