Dr. Marand Leads Project Applying Single-Cell Sequencing Technology to Create a Reference Atlas in Maize

The project, led by Alexandre Marand, isolated thousands of individual cells to determine the regulatory DNA—the parts of DNA that control the genes that are important in different types of cells.

“Plant cells are surrounded by a cell wall that is a significant hurdle for studying cell functions and development,” said Marand, first author and an NSF-funded postdoctoral researcher in the Schmitz lab. “Leveraging single-cell technology allowed us to bypass the technical challenges presented by the cell wall and determine the regulatory DNA signatures that define diverse types of cells at a scale that will be very useful for all plant scientists.”