Single-nucleus transcriptomics reveal the morphogenesis and artemisinin biosynthesis in Artemisia annua glandular trichomes by Minghui Zhang & Mingyu Li & Yanyan An & Chang Liu & Qiaojuan Zhao & Danfeng Zhang & Baiwei Pan & Hexin Tan instant download

Single-nucleus transcriptomics reveal the morphogenesis and artemisinin biosynthesis in Artemisia annua glandular trichomes by Minghui Zhang & Mingyu Li & Yanyan An & Chang Liu & Qiaojuan Zhao & Danfeng Zhang & Baiwei Pan & Hexin Tan instant download

Artemisinin, the key antimalarial drug, is synthesized in Artemisia annuaglandular secretory trichomes (GSTs), yet their development and artemisinin’sprecise cellular origins are unclear. Utilizing single-nucleus RNA sequencingand spatial transcriptomics, we construct a high-resolution cellular atlasmapping metabolic dynamics across GST development. We define threedevelopmental states: the initiation phase, transcriptional activation of coremetabolic pathways establishes fundamental cellular machinery; the intermediate phase, marked lipid metabolism activation with coordinated fatty acidand wax biosynthesis, accompanied by active photosynthetic activity; theterminal differentiation phase, metabolite specialized through spatial compartmentalization of terpenoid and lipid biosynthetic pathways. Notably, wediscover that six specific secretory cells within the 10-cell GSTs constitute theprimary site for artemisinin production. We identify hundreds of hub genespotentially contributing to trichome development or artemisinin biosynthesis.Overall, this study systematically elucidates GST development and artemisininbiosynthesis, revealing its spatial production mechanism and providingessential cellular and genetic foundations for metabolic engineering andfundamental trichome biology.