Integrating single nuclei and bulk RNA sequencing in rice shoot apical meristems uncovers candidate early floral transition gene networks.

Key message: We describe transcriptional dynamics at the rice shoot apex by integrating time resolved single nuclei RNA-seq with bulk RNA-seq data. In rice, short days trigger floral transition and the transcriptional reprogramming of the shoot apex to become reproductive. We integrated time-resolved bulk RNA-seq with single nuclei RNA-seq analysis to gain a refined understanding of the transcriptional programs induced at the shoot apex during floral transition. Our analyses highlighted technological and conceptual differences between single nuclei RNA-seq and bulk RNA-seq data and described previously uncharacterized transcriptional programs associated with the early steps of floral induction in rice.