Many needles in a haystack: cell-type specific abiotic stress responses

Plants react to abiotic stress with a number of physiological, biochemical, and developmental alterations. These responses include changes in signaling components, gene transcription, non-coding RNAs, proteins, and metabolites that occur in a cell-type and tissue-specific manner. Recent advances in cell-type specifically isolating protoplasts and nuclei from plants, extracting mRNA from targeted cells, and whole-genome transcriptional profiling have enabled scientists to gain insight into how cells and tissues respond transcriptionally to abiotic stress. Continued technological advances in profiling the proteomes, metabolomes, and other biological components of specific cells will continue to broaden our understanding of plant stress responses.

► Molecular responses to plant stress occur in specific cells and tissues.
► Advances in isolating cells and nuclei enable profiling of these activities.
► Cell-specific profiles reveal changes previously undetected with bulk tissue analysis.
► Novel functions of individual cell types in response to stress are now evident.