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Development and Evolution of Xylem: the Most Abundant Tissue on Earth

Chia-Chun Tung, Shang-Che Kuo, Chia-Ling Yang, Jhong-He Yu, Chia-En Huang, Pin-Chien Liou, Ying-Hsuan Sun, Peng Shuai, Jung-Chen Su, Chuan Ku and Ying-Chung Jimmy Lin

Xylem is a plant tissue for mechanical support and water transportation, as well as a key natural resource and carbon sink. To understand xylem formation, our team analyzed single-cell transcriptomes of four tree species representing divergent lineages of flowering plant (angiosperm) evolution. The developmental trajectories of ray cells are highly conserved across angiosperms. The tracheids of Trochodendron aralioides (a native Taiwanese species without libriform fibers and vessel elements) exhibit strong transcriptomic similarity to vessel elements rather than libriform fibers of other eudicots. The results provide a cell atlas for xylem development and new perspectives for plant tissue evo-devo research.

Genome Biology 24, 3 (2023).

 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-022-02845-1
Above Four tree species that diverged over 100 million years ago.Below Cross-section of the xylem. The development of ray cells (pink) is more conservative than that of vessels (blue) and fibers (red). The tracheids of T. aralioides (light blue) are developmentally more similar to vessels.

Above Four tree species that diverged over 100 million years ago.
Below Cross-section of the xylem. The development of ray cells (pink) is more conservative than that of vessels (blue) and fibers (red). The tracheids of T. aralioides (light blue) are developmentally more similar to vessels.