Editorial Volume 15, Issue 15 pp 7340—7342

Figure 1. Investigating the biology of yeast aging by single-cell RNA-seq. We optimized a single-cell RNA-seq protocol combined with manual dissection, and performed the first transcriptome analysis of aging in yeast with single-cell resolution. By single-cell RNA-seq, we found an increased cell-to-cell transcriptional variability during aging in yeast. And we also found a molecular marker that indicates the early heterogeneity during aging in yeast: the iron transporter gene of FIT3. FIT3 was reported to be induced upon iron deprivation or mitochondrial DNA loss, and in our study it was highly expressed in the slow-dividing early age subgroup. Interestingly, its deletion was proved to expand the lifespan as well.