Single-cell alternative splicing analysis reveals dominance of single transcript variant

Alternative splicing contributes to the diversity of gene products by producing multiple transcript variants from one gene. Previous studies have revealed highly variable splicing patterns in single cells, but there is still a controversy in the understanding of the simultaneous expression of multiple transcript variants. Here we show that the dominance of a single transcript variant is a common phenomenon in single cells. We analyzed several single-cell RNA sequencing datasets and observed consistent results. Our results demonstrate that single cells tend to express one major transcript variant of a gene, and the diversity of transcript variants in cell populations mainly results from the heterogeneity of splicing pattern in single cells. • Single cells tend to express one major transcript variant of a gene. • Different single cells have different splicing pattern. • Bimodal expression of transcript variants is common in cell populations.