Extraction of RNA from an intact single plant cell with cell wall using focused electric field

Here we report a novel microfluidic system that enables selective and direct extraction of RNA from single plant cell in a three-dimensional tissue. The microfluidic system leverages a cell trap that hydrodynamically captures a target single cell in a tissue and locally amplifies the electrical field to lyse the cell wall of the target single cell. Our entire protocol completes in less than 5 min.