Resolving plant development in space and time with single-cell genomics

Single-cell genomics technologies are ushering in a new research era. In this review, we summarize the benefits and current challenges of using these technologies to probe the transcriptional regulation of plant development. In addition to profiling cells at a single snapshot in time, researchers have recently produced time-resolved datasets to map cell re-sponses to stimuli. Live-imaging and spatial transcriptomic techniques are rapidly being adopted to link a cell's tran-scriptional profile with its spatial location within a tissue. Combining these technologies is a powerful spatiotemporal approach to investigate cell plasticity and developmental re-sponses that contribute to plant resilience. Although there are hurdles to overcome, we conclude by discussing how single -cell genomics is poised to address developmental questions in the coming years.