Organ regeneration does not require a functional stem cell niche in plants

• Published in: Nature Vol. 457; no. 7233; pp. 1150 - 1153
• Main Authors: Sena, Giovanni, Wang, Xiaoning, Liu, Hsiao-Yun, Hofhuis, Hugo, Birnbaum, Kenneth D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 26-02-2009; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Arabidopsis - cytology; Arabidopsis - growth & development; Arabidopsis thaliana; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - analysis; Cell cycle; Cell differentiation; Cell division; Cell Lineage; Cell physiology; Cell Transdifferentiation; Flowers & plants; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Indoleacetic Acids - metabolism; letter; Medical research; multidisciplinary; mutants; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Organogenesis; Physiological aspects; Plant growth. Development of the storage organs; Plant physiology and development; Plant Roots - cytology; Plant Roots - growth & development; regeneration; Regeneration (Biology); Regeneration - physiology; root tips; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Starch - analysis; Starch - metabolism; Stem Cell Niche - physiology; Stem cells; Stem Cells - cytology; Stem Cells - metabolism; Tissue cultures, protoplasts; Vegetative apparatus, growth and morphogenesis. Senescence; United States; Netherlands; Stem cell; Cell biology; Plant biology; Functional capacity; Arabidopsis thaliana; Plant; Specialization; Restoration; Cell fate; Cruciferae; Cell niche; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Localization; Apex; Plant tissue; Vegetals; Root; Developmental biology; Cell differentiation; Meristem; Organogenesis; Regeneration; Type; Functional recovery; Vegetative apparatus; Environment; Spermatophyta; Mutation; Molecular biology; Organ
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687; 1476-4679
• DOI: 10.1038/nature07597

Plants rely on the maintenance of stem cell niches at their apices for the continuous growth of roots and shoots. However, although the developmental plasticity of plant cells has been demonstrated, it is not known whether the stem cell niche is required for organogenesis. Here we explore the capacity of a broad range of differentiating cells to regenerate an organ without the activity of a stem cell niche. Using a root-tip regeneration system in Arabidopsis thaliana to track the molecular and functional recovery of cell fates, we show that re-specification of lost cell identities begins within hours of excision and that the function of specialized cells is restored within one day. Critically, regeneration proceeds in plants with mutations that fail to maintain the stem cell niche. These results show that stem-cell-like properties that mediate complete organ regeneration are dispersed in plant meristems and are not restricted to niches, which nonetheless seem to be necessary for indeterminate growth. This regenerative reprogramming of an entire organ without transition to a stereotypical stem cell environment has intriguing parallels to recent reports of induced transdifferentiation of specific cell types in the adult organs of animals.