A multi-omics cell atlas unlocks new frontiers in crop biotechnologyOA

Defining how plant cell types are specified and regulated has been a central challenge in biology.Previous single-cell studies in plants,relying on either RNA-seq or ATAC-seq,provided valuable insights but could not directly connect chromatin state to transcriptional programs.Writing in Nature,Wang et al.present the first multi-organ single-cell multi-omics atlas of rice.Profiling more than 116,000 nuclei across eight tissues,they delineate 56 distinct cell types with high resolution.Joint analysis of gene expression and chromatin accessibility reveals sharper cell-type boundaries,transient developmental states,and regulatory networks with unprecedented clarity.Importantly,the study links cellspecific regulatory programs to key agronomic traits,identifying candidate regulators of root architecture,photosynthesis,nitrogen metabolism,and yield.This atlas establishes both a foundational resource for comparative plant biology and crop biotechnology,providing a roadmap for precision breeding and resilient agriculture driven by cell-type insights.