“Omics” typically involves exploration of the structure and function of the entire composition of a biological system at a specific level using high-throughput analytical methods to probe and analyze large amounts of data, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, among other types. Genomics characterizes and quantifies all genes of an organism collectively, studying their interrelationships and their impacts on the organism. However, conventional transcriptomic sequencing techniques target population cells, and their results only reflect the average expression levels of genes in population cells, as they are unable to reveal the gene expression heterogeneity and spatial heterogeneity among individual cells, thus masking the expression specificity between different cells. Single-cell transcriptomic sequencing and spatial transcriptomic sequencing techniques analyze the transcriptome of individual cells in plant or animal tissues, enabling the understanding of each cell’s metabolites and expressed genes. Consequently, statistical analysis of the corresponding tissues can be performed, with the purpose of achieving cell classification, evolutionary growth, and physiological and pathological analyses. This article provides an overview of the research progress in plant single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, as well as their applications and challenges in plants. Furthermore, prospects for the development of single-cell and spatial transcriptomics are proposed.

There are limited studies on the cytology of bamboo leaf development from primordium to maturity. This study delves into the leaf morphological characteristics and growth patterns of Sasaella kogasensis ‘Aureostriatus’ and provides a three-dimensional anatomical analysis of cell division, expansion, and degradation. Leaves on the same branch develop bottom-up, while individual leaves develop the other way around. Like bamboo shoots and culms, the leaves follow a “slow–fast–slow” growth pattern, with longitudinal growth being predominant during their development. The growth zones of individual leaves included division, elongation, and maturation zones based on the distribution of growth space. By measuring 13,303 epidermal long cells and 3293 mesophyll cells in longitudinal sections of rapidly elongating leaves, we observed that in the rapid elongation phase (S4–S5), the division zone was located in the 1–2 cm segment at the bottom of the leaf blade and maintained a constant size, continuously providing new cells for leaf elongation, whereas in the late rapid elongation phase (S6), when the length of the leaf blade was approaching that of a mature leaf, its cells at the bottom of the blade no longer divided and were replaced by the ability to elongate. Furthermore, to gain an insight into the dynamic changes in the growth of the S. kogasensis ‘Aureostriatus’ leaves in the lateral and periclinal directions, the width and thickness of 1459 epidermal and 2719 mesophyll cells were counted in the mid-cross section of leaves at different developmental stages. The results showed that during the early stages of development (S1–S3), young leaves maintained vigorous division in the lateral direction, while periplasmic division gradually expanded from the bottom to the top of the leaf blade and the number of cell layers stabilized at S4. The meristematic tissues on both sides of the leaf were still able to divide at S4 but the frequency of the division gradually decreased, while cell division and expansion occurred simultaneously between the veins. At S6, the cells at the leaf margins and between the veins were completely differentiated and the width of the leaf blade no longer expanded. These findings revealed changes in cell growth anisotropically during the leaf development of S. kogasensis ‘Aureostriatus’ and demonstrated that leaf elongation was closely related to the longitudinal expansion of epidermal cells and proliferative growth of mesophyll cells, whereas the cell division of meristematic tissues and expansion of post-divisional cells contributed to the increases in blade width and thickness. The presented framework will facilitate a further exploration of the molecular regulatory mechanisms of leaf development in S. kogasensis ‘Aureostriatus’ and provide relevant information for developmental and taxonomic studies of bamboo plants.

Bamboo seeds (often called bamboo rice) are nutritionally rich, offering protein, fiber, and essential minerals like potassium and manganese. Chimonobambusa utilis seeds, especially, represent an underexplored nutritional resource with exceptional edible and agricultural potential. Here, we report that Ch. utilis seeds contain remarkably high levels of unsaturated fatty acids (67.39% of total lipids), with linoleic and linolenic acids comprising 36.5% and 26.7%, respectively, exceeding major vegetable oils by 1.5 to 3.3-fold. Comprehensive plant growth regulator (PGR) screening revealed distinct regulatory patterns: gibberellic acid (GA₃, 8.66 µM) exhibits biphasic dose–response kinetics, cytokinins (6-BA, 222.0 µM) show nonlinear responses transitioning from low-concentration inhibition to high-concentration promotion with preferential lateral root induction, while auxins (NAA, 134.2 µM) demonstrate unimodal responses with concentration-dependent efficacy, achieving the strongest root-promoting effect (27% increase, p < 0.05). Mechanistically, optimal phytohormone treatments sustained elevated soluble sugar levels and differentially modulated key enzymes. Notably, 6-BA potently suppressed sucrose synthase activity while NAA maximally stimulated starch biosynthetic enzyme activities (AGPase and GBSS), identifying sucrose metabolism as a pivotal regulatory node. Comparative evaluation of germination capacity and seedling vigor revealed that individual treatments with 8.66 µM GA₃, 222.0 µM 6-BA, or 134.2 µM NAA achieved the best performance among tested concentrations, reducing germination time by 5 days and increasing germination percentage by 4.2 to 6.3% relative to control. These findings establish Ch. utilis as a premium oil crop candidate and provide mechanistic insights into phytohormone-mediated germination control with broad implications for bamboo seed biology and propagation optimization.