Study of phase-specific gene expression in synchronized tobacco cells

Although the basic mechanisms which control the progression through the cell cycle appear to be conserved in all higher eukaryotes, the unique features of the plant developmental programme must be somehow reflected in a plant-specific regulation of the factors which control cell division. In the last few years, considerable progress has been achieved in identifying the major components of the cell cycle in plants. The question of how these components direct expression of specific genes at specific stages of the cell cycle, and how they are themselves regulated, constitutes a challenge for the present and the next years. This review summarizes our current knowledge at molecular and biochemical levels of cell cycle-regulated expression in the model system, the synchronized tobacco BY2 cell suspension, and discusses the results in comparison to those obtained by different methods and in other plant systems.