Recently, the research teams lead by Professor Bosheng Li and academician Xing Wang Deng from the Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences published a research paper titled "Spatial transcriptomics reveals light-induced chlorenchyma cells involved in promoting shoot regeneration in tomato callus" in the prestigious journal PNAS. This marks the establishment of the first spatial transcriptomic map of plant callus bud regeneration.

The study utilized three spatial transcriptome technologies: the BGI Stereo-seq from Shenzhen BGI, the BMKMANU S1000 from Qingdao Biomaker, and the American 10x Visium. In addition, the study employed 10X Chromium single-cell nuclear transcriptome technology. For the first time, they have revealed the heterogeneity of cells within tomato callus tissue and provided a detailed analysis of the expression of hormone signals and essential regulators in various tissues and cells at the single-cell level. The research not only discovered the subtypes and functions of epidermal cells and meristem cells, but also revealed the vital role of green (chlorenchyma) cells in the position determination and differentiation development of meristem cells. Further, it elucidated how illumination promotes the development and activation of chlorenchyma cells and triggers the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) to promote the bud regeneration process.