Unstressed cells are alike, but stressed cells differ: Environmental and single-cell heterogeneity in yeast stress responses.

ABSTRACT: Cellular stress responses are central to survival, adaptation, and disease pathology, yet much of what we know comes from averages that mask heterogeneity. Using high-throughput single-cell RNA sequencing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we profiled approximately 13,000 cells exposed to diverse stresses. By annotating transposable elements (TEs) alongside coding genes, we captured expression across over 6,600 features. Leveraging these rich single-cell data, we redefined what it means to identify a "stress response," shifting from the strongest average signals to the features that best predict whether an individual cell has experienced stress. These distinct definitions revealed different gene sets, underscoring how average versus single-cell views diverge. We found that stress-induced

SUBMITTER: Eder R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12803069 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature