G&T-seq: parallel sequencing of single-cell genomes and transcriptomes

The ability to simultaneously sequence the genome and transcriptome of the same single cell offers a powerful means to dissect functional genetic heterogeneity at the cellular level. Here we describe G&T-seq, a method for separating and sequencing genomic DNA and full-length mRNA from single cells. By applying G&T-seq to over 220 single cells we reveal cellular properties that cannot be inferred from DNA or RNA sequencing alone, including associations between DNA copy number variation and gene expression dosage. We further demonstrate the detection of coding interchromosomal fusions and single nucleotide variants in both the genomes and transcriptomes of individual cells. G&T-seq enables the study of genotype-phenotype associations in single cells, and the investigation of DNA cell lineage trees of healthy and diseased tissues with transcriptome inferred cell types and states.