Single-Nucleus Transcriptomics Reveals Cell Type Specific Defence Responses and Identifies AhWRKY40 as a Key Regulator of Peanut Resistance to Sclerotium rolfsii.

Over 29,308 peanut stem rot–infected nuclei show widespread transcriptional reprogramming, with epidermal cells harboring the highest proportion of disease resistance genes.

• Why it matters: Peanut resistance to Sclerotium rolfsii remains poorly understood, limiting development of resistant cultivars for southern blight.
• What they did: Single-nucleus transcriptomics annotated five major cell types and detected 52,819 expressed genes, then used pseudotime, virtual knockout, coexpression, and transgenic validation to pinpoint AhWRKY40.
• The result: AhWRKY40 overexpression enhanced resistance to S. rolfsii and increased jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA), supporting its role in hormone-mediated defense responses.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.