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Transdetermination of plant cells
Differentiation; Research in Biological Diversity
|January 1, 1986
Summary
Plant cells can change their developmental fate, a process called transdetermination. This study shows that the differing cytokinin needs of tobacco leaf and stem cells are epigenetically controlled and can be altered.
Area of Science:
- Plant biology
- Molecular biology
- Epigenetics
Background:
- Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) leaf tissues require cytokinin for growth in culture, while stem tissues are cytokinin-autotrophic.
- These distinct cytokinin requirements are stable even after cell cloning, suggesting cell determination.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if plant cells can change their determined state (transdetermination).
- To determine the basis of differing cytokinin requirements in plant tissues.
Main Methods:
- Culturing leaf and stem tissues from Nicotiana tabacum.
- Regenerating plants from cloned leaf and stem cells.
- Assessing cytokinin requirements of regenerated tissues.
Main Results:
- Leaf and stem tissues exhibit distinct, stable cytokinin requirements.
- Plants regenerated from cloned cells showed that these determined states could be altered.
- The altered states in regenerated tissues mirrored those of comparable tissues in seed-grown plants.
Conclusions:
- Plant cells can undergo transdetermination, changing their developmental fate.
- Transdetermination in this context has an epigenetic basis.
- This provides evidence for epigenetic regulation of cell determination in plants.