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Biology subjects

Ghose, K.

Publications and source records attributed to Ghose, K..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

A spatiotemporal single-cell atlas reveals coordinated immune, metabolic, and nutrient exchange programs and a coumarin-centered metabolic switch during soybean arbusular mycorrhizal symbiosis

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) establish intimate symbiosis with plant roots, yet the cell-type-specific regulatory and metabolic programs governing this interaction remain poorly resolved. Here, we integrate single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) with spatial metabolomics across a temporal gradient of soybean root colonization (2-8 weeks post inoculation) to construct a high-resolution, multi-omic atlas of AMF symbiosis. Profiling 33,410 nuclei spanning all major root cell types, we uncover dynamic, cell-type-resolved transcriptional reprogramming coupled to spatially localized metabolite accumulation. Early colonization triggers a robust, epidermis-localized immune response alongside cortex-specific epigenetic reprogramming, mediated by RNA-directed DNA methylation machinery, suggesting active suppression of defense in fungal accommodation zones. Spatial metabolomics reveals a biphasic metabolic transition from flavonoid- and terpenoid-rich signaling states to lipid-dominated nutrient exchange, aligned with colonization progression. In parallel, coordinated carbon allocation and lipid biosynthesis pathways were activated in cortex and vascular tissues, supporting fungal dependence on host-derived fatty acids and sugars. Nutrient exchange programs, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus transport, exhibit strong pericycle and phloem specificity, highlighting systemic integration of symbiotic benefits. Through co-expression network analysis, we identify a previously uncharacterized coumarin-centered metabolic switch, governed by GmF6H1-2, that is essential for efficient colonization, as validated by natural loss-of-function variants. Collectively, this study provides a comprehensive, spatially resolved framework linking gene regulation, metabolism, and cell identity, revealing that AMF symbiosis is orchestrated through coordinated immune modulation, metabolic rewiring, and nutrient flux partitioning at single-cell resolution. Key pointsO_LIMulti-omic integration reveals cell-type-resolved symbiotic programs C_LIO_LISymbiosis requires spatially coordinated immune reprogramming C_LIO_LIA biphasic metabolic shift underpins colonization dynamics C_LIO_LICarbon and nutrient flux are partitioned across specialized cell types C_LIO_LIDiscovery of a coumarin-driven "metabolic GO-switch" controlling symbiosis C_LI

plant biology↗

Shoot at Site: Advancing in planta transformation, regeneration and gene-editing through a cascade of wounding-mediated developmental regulators

Developing transgenic and/or gene-edited plants largely depends on tedious, lengthy, and costly in vitro regeneration protocols. While plants have remarkable regeneration ability, not all species, genotypes or even explants exhibit the same transformation and regeneration potential under in vitro conditions. To tackle this bottleneck, we have developed a seamless and user-friendly system to induce transgenic and gene-edited de novo meristems via a synthetic cascade comprising a wound-induced regeneration pathway, plant developmental regulators (DRs) and gene-editing reagents. WOUND INDUCED DEDIFFERENTIATION 1 (WIND1) is used as a transcriptional regulator to control the expression of various DR genes through ENHANCER OF SHOOT REGENERATION 1 (ESR1) promoter. This cascade was strategically applied in planta to the non-meristematic internode of N. benthamiana to induce meristematic activity and regenerate de novo shoots with knock-out mutations of the phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene. This synthetic toolkit was further applied successfully to tomato and soybean. This methodology offers a transformative approach to overcome barriers in plant biotechnology, potentially accelerating the generation of transgenic and gene-edited plants without reliance on conventional tissue-culture intermediates.

plant biology↗

Fast and Accurate Genomic Analyses using Genome Graphs

The human reference genome serves as the foundation for genomics by providing a scaffold for alignment of sequencing reads, but currently only reflects a single consensus haplotype, which impairs read alignment and downstream analysis accuracy. Reference genome structures incorporating known genetic variation have been shown to improve the accuracy of genomic analyses, but have so far remained computationally prohibitive for routine large-scale use. Here we present a graph genome implementation that enables read alignment across 2,800 diploid genomes encompassing 12.6 million SNPs and 4.0 million indels. Our Graph Genome Pipeline requires 6.5 hours to process a 30x coverage WGS sample on a system with 36 CPU cores compared with 11 hours required by the GATK Best Practices pipeline. Using complementary benchmarking experiments based on real and simulated data, we show that using a graph genome reference improves read mapping sensitivity and produces a 0.5% increase in variant calling recall, or about 20,000 additional variants being detected per sample, while variant calling specificity is unaffected. Structural variations (SVs) incorporated into a graph genome can be genotyped accurately under a unified framework. Finally, we show that iterative augmentation of graph genomes yields incremental gains in variant calling accuracy. Our implementation is a significant advance towards fulfilling the promise of graph genomes to radically enhance the scalability and accuracy of genomic analyses.

bioinformatics↗