VND6-induced Xylem Cell Differentiation in Arabidopsis Cell Cultures

In vitro xylem differentiation is a powerful technique that can be used to elucidate the process of xylem development that occurs deep inside plant tissues in nature. The experimental procedure described here is designed to induce metaxylem vessel differentiation at exceptionally high frequency and synchronicity using genetically engineered Arabidopsis cell suspensions. By triggering a transcriptional switch, over 80 % of the cells synchronously differentiate into xylem cells within 32 h of treatment with estradiol. Exogenous marker genes can be transiently introduced into the cells by coculturing them with transformed Agrobacterium before inducing xylem differentiation. This system is fast, easy to handle, and highly compatible with molecular and cell biology techniques used to explore xylem cell differentiation.