Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Primary and Secondary Growth in Roots and Shoots03:02

Primary and Secondary Growth in Roots and Shoots

57.1K
Vascular plants, which account for over 90% of the Earth’s vegetation, all undergo primary growth—which lengthens roots and shoots. Many land plants, notably woody plants, also undergo secondary growth—which thickens roots and shoots.
57.1K
Lineage Commitment01:21

Lineage Commitment

3.0K
Commitment is the  process whereby stem cells:
3.0K
Multipotency and Niche of Bulge Stem Cell01:06

Multipotency and Niche of Bulge Stem Cell

3.6K
A hair follicle or HF is a small part of the skin that produces the hair shaft. Paul Gerson Unna was the first to observe a bulge in the human hair follicle's outer root sheath (ORS). The bulge is present between the sebaceous gland and the arrector pili muscle and is the niche for hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs). The bulge is also a niche for melanocyte stem cells, and their loss results in graying of hair. The HFSCs express Sox9 and Lhx2, which help them maintain stemness and prevent...
3.6K
Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming01:29

Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming

2.2K
Reprogramming alters the gene expression in somatic cells, transforming them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells over several generations. Scientists can reprogram cells by introducing genes for four transcription factors—Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM) by viral or non-viral methods. These factors are also known as Yamanaka factors after Shinya Yamanaka, who first generated iPS cells using mouse skin cells. Yamanaka was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012...
2.2K
Inheritance of Chromatin Structures03:17

Inheritance of Chromatin Structures

6.2K
Epigenetics is the study of inherited changes in a cell's phenotype without changing the DNA sequences. It provides a form of memory for the differential gene expression pattern to maintain cell lineage, position-effect variegation, dosage compensation, and maintenance of chromatin structures such as telomeres and centromeres. For example, the structure and location of the centromere on chromosomes are epigenetically inherited. Its functionality is not dictated or ensured by the underlying...
6.2K
Chromatin Modification in iPS Cells01:32

Chromatin Modification in iPS Cells

1.6K
Chromatin modification alters gene expression; therefore, scientists can add histone-modifying enzymes, histone variants, and chromatin remodeling complexes to somatic cells to aid reprogramming into pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
Compact chromatin makes reprogramming difficult. Enzymes, such as histone demethylases and acetyltransferases, are often added during reprogramming to loosen the chromatin, making the DNA more accessible to transcription factors. Molecules that inhibit histone...
1.6K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Power-law penalties correct distance bias in single-cell co-accessibility and deep-learning chromatin interaction predictions.

NAR genomics and bioinformatics·2026
Same author

Branching architecture limits the number of fixed somatic mutations in trees.

G3 (Bethesda, Md.)·2025
Same author

Polymer-derived distance penalties improve chromatin interaction predictions from single-cell data across crop genomes.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Somatic Evolution of Stem Cell Mutations in Long-Lived Plants.

Molecular biology and evolution·2025
Same author

The genetic architecture of cell type-specific cis regulation in maize.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2025
Same author

DNA methylation dynamics in the shoot apical meristem.

Journal of experimental botany·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 25, 2025

Confocal Live Imaging of Shoot Apical Meristems from Different Plant Species
06:46

Confocal Live Imaging of Shoot Apical Meristems from Different Plant Species

Published on: March 29, 2019

12.3K

Somatic epigenetic drift during shoot branching: a cell lineage-based model.

Yifan Chen1,2, Agata Burian3, Frank Johannes2

  • 1Department of Mathematics, Technical University of Munich, Garching 85748, Germany.

Genetics
|May 29, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Plant branching creates cellular bottlenecks, influencing how genetic and epigenetic changes spread. Our model shows this "somatic drift" leads to inherent DNA methylation variation within the shoot apical meristem (SAM).

Keywords:
Plant Genetics and Genomicscell lineagescell phylogenyplant developmentplant epigeneticsshoot apical meristemsomatic epigenetic driftsomatic epimutationsomatic mutations

More Related Videos

Isolation and Transcriptome Analysis of Plant Cell Types
08:53

Isolation and Transcriptome Analysis of Plant Cell Types

Published on: April 7, 2023

1.5K
Live Confocal Imaging of Developing Arabidopsis Flowers
07:27

Live Confocal Imaging of Developing Arabidopsis Flowers

Published on: April 1, 2017

14.9K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 25, 2025

Confocal Live Imaging of Shoot Apical Meristems from Different Plant Species
06:46

Confocal Live Imaging of Shoot Apical Meristems from Different Plant Species

Published on: March 29, 2019

12.3K
Isolation and Transcriptome Analysis of Plant Cell Types
08:53

Isolation and Transcriptome Analysis of Plant Cell Types

Published on: April 7, 2023

1.5K
Live Confocal Imaging of Developing Arabidopsis Flowers
07:27

Live Confocal Imaging of Developing Arabidopsis Flowers

Published on: April 1, 2017

14.9K

Area of Science:

  • Plant developmental biology
  • Epigenetics
  • Computational biology

Background:

  • Plant architecture develops through postembryonic organogenesis, notably lateral shoot formation.
  • The detached-meristem model explains lateral shoot initiation via precursor cells from the shoot apical meristem (SAM).
  • Repeated branching leads to "somatic drift," impacting mutation propagation and epigenetic changes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To model the consequences of somatic drift on epigenetic variation in the SAM.
  • To investigate how cell lineage independence affects mutation propagation during plant development.
  • To understand the inherent epigenetic heterogeneity in plant meristems.

Main Methods:

  • Formalized a detached-meristem model with random precursor cell sampling from the SAM periphery.
  • Simulated somatic drift and epimutation dynamics during repeated branching.
  • Analyzed the resulting cellular phylogenies and DNA methylation patterns.

Main Results:

  • Somatic drift generates diverse cellular phylogenies within the SAM over time.
  • Epigenetic variation is influenced by branching frequency, drift strength, and epimutation rate.
  • Predicted convergence of cell-to-cell DNA methylation heterogeneity to nonzero states.

Conclusions:

  • Epigenetic variation is an intrinsic property of the SAM cell population due to developmental processes.
  • Somatic drift is a key factor shaping epigenetic landscapes in plants.
  • Findings inform studies on somatic epigenomic diversity in perennial and clonal plants.