Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Problem of Stem Cells in Plants

  • Published:
Russian Journal of Developmental Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The uppermost cells of the root and shoot apical meristems are considered as stem cells. They are similar, in many features, to the stem cells of animals. But, unlike animals, the stem cells can repeatedly arise in plants during morphogenesis and regeneration or in tissue culture from actively dividing or differentiated cells. When the stem cells are removed, they can be repeatedly restored from the actively dividing cells. The maintenance of the population of stem cells is determined by interaction between the stem cells and actively dividing cells located below according to the feedback principle. The protein synthesized in the stem cells determines how the lower located cells affect the stem cells. Specificity of stem cell identification in plants is discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barlow, P.W., Regeneration of the Cap of Primary Roots of Zea mays, New Phytol., 1974, vol. 73, pp. 937-954.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barlow, P.W., The Concept of the Stem Cell in the Context of Plant Growth and Development, Stem Cells and Tissue Homeostasis, Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1978, pp. 87-113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barlow, P.W., Stem Cells and Founder Zones in Plants, Particularly Their Roots, Stem Cells, Poten, C.S., Ed., London: Academic, 1997, pp. 29-57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barlow, P.W. and Rathefelder, E.L., Cell Division and Regeneration in Primary Root Meristems of Zea mays Recovering from Cold Treatment, Env. Exp. Bot., 1985, vol. 25, pp. 303-314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brand, U., Fletcher, J.C., Hobe, M., et al., Dependence of Stem Cell Fate in Arabidopsis on a Feedback Loop Regulated by CLV3 Activity, Science, vol. 289, pp. 617-619.

  • Buvat, R., Le meristéme apical de la Tige, Ann. Biol. Ser. 3, 1955, vol. 31, pp. 595-656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chel'tsova, L.P., Rost konusov narastaniya pobegov v ontogeneze rastenii (Growth of Shoot Cones in Plant Ontogeny), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1980.

  • Clark, S.E., Meristems: Start Your Signaling, Curr. Opinion Plant Biol., 2001, vol. 4, pp. 28-32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, S.E., Williams, R.W., and Meyerowitz, E.M., The CLAVATA1 Gene Encodes a Putative Receptor Kinase That Controls Shoot and Floral Meristem Size in Arabidopsis, Cell (Cambridge, Mass.), 1997, vol. 89, pp. 575-585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clowes, F.A.L., Nucleic Acids in Root Apical Meristem of Zea, New Phytol., 1956, vol. 55, pp. 29-35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clowes, F.A.L., Reorganization of Root Apices after Irradiation, Ann. Bot., 1959, vol. 23, pp. 205-210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clowes, F.A.L. and Stewart, H.E., Recovery from Dormancy in Roots, New Phytol., 1967, vol. 66, pp. 115-123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doerner, P., Does Auxin Provide Positional Cues? Curr. Biol., 2000, vol. 10, R201-R203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, L.J., The de novo Origin of the Quiescent Center Regenerating Root Apices in Zea mays, Planta, 1976, vol. 128, pp. 207-212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis, D., The Stem Cell Concept Applied to Shoot Meristems of Higher Plants, Stem Cells, Poten, C.S., Ed., London: Academic, 1997, pp. 59-73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross-Hardt, R. and Laux, T., Stem Cell Regulation in Plant Meristem, J. Cell Sci., 2003 (in press).

  • Holden, C. and Vogel, G., Plasticity: Time for a Reappraisal, Science, 2002, vol. 296, pp. 2126-2129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivanov, V.B., Kletochnye osnovy rosta rastenii (Cellular Bases of Plant Growth), Moscow: Nauka, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivanov, V.B., DNA Content in the Nucleus and Rate of Plant of Development, Ontogenez (Moscow), 1978, vol. 9, pp. 39-53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivanov, V.B., Cellular Organization of Root Growth, Sov. Sci. Rev. Ser. Biol., 1981, vol. 2, pp. 365-392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivanov, V.B., Specific features of Cell Proliferation in Plants with Reference to the Problem of Stem Cells, Tsitologiya, 1986, vol. 28, pp. 295-302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivanov, V.B. and Larina, L.P., Repeated Regeneration of Root Apical Meristem and Problem of Stem Cells in Plants, Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1983, vol. 272, pp. 1014-1017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivanov, V.B., Dobrochaev, A.E., and Baskin, T.I., What the Distribution of Cell Lengths in the Root Meristem Does and Does Not Reveal about Cell Division, J. Plant Growth Regul., 2002, vol. 21, pp. 60-67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerstetter, R.A. and Hake, S., Shoot Meristem Formation in Vegetative Development, Plant Cell, 1997, vol. 9, pp. 1001-1010.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laux, T., Mayer, K.F.X., Berger, J., and Jürgens, G., The WUSCHEL Gene Is Required for Shoot and Floral Meristem Integrity in Arabidopsis, Development (Cambridge, UK), 1996, vol. 122, pp. 87-96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ponce, G., Lujan, R., Campos, M.E., et al., Three Maize Root-Specific Genes Are Not Correctly Expressed in Regenerated Caps in the Absence of the Quiescent Center, Planta, 2000, vol. 211, pp. 23-33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raju, M.V., Steeves, T.A., and Naylor, J.M., Developmental Studies on Euphorbia esula L.: Apices of Long and Short Roots, Can. J. Bot., 1964, vol. 42, pp. 1615-1625.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sabatini, S., Beis, D., Wolkenfelt, H., et al., An Auxin-Dependent Distal Organizer of Pattern and Polarity in the Arabidopsis Root, Cell (Cambridge, Mass.), 1999, vol. 99, pp. 463-472.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoof, H., Lenhard, M., Haecker, A., et al., The Stem Cell Population of Arabidopsis Shoot Meristems Is Maintained by a Regulatory Loop between the CLAVATA and WUSCHEL Genes, Cell (Cambridge, Mass.), 2000, vol. 100, pp. 635-644.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serebryakov, I.G., Morfologiya vegetativnykh organov vysshikh rastenii (Morphology of Vegetative Organs in Higher Plants), Moscow: Vysshaya Shkola, 1952.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smirnov, A.M., Rost i metabolizm izolirovannykh kornei v steril'noi kul'ture (Growth and Metabolism of Isolated Roots in Sterile Culture), Moscow: Nauka, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spalding, A., Drummond-Barbosa, D., and Kai, T., Stem Cells Find Their Niche, Nature (London), 2001, vol. 414, pp. 98-104.

    Google Scholar 

  • van den Berg, C., Weibeek, P., and Ben Scheres, X., Cell Fate and Cell Differentiation Status in the Arabidopsis Root, Planta, 1998, vol. 205, pp. 483-491.

    Google Scholar 

  • van den Berg, C., Willemsen, V., Hage, W., et al., Cell Fate in the Arabidopsis Root Meristem Determined by Directional Signalling, Nature (London), 1995, vol. 378, pp. 62-65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Viktorov, I.V., Stem Cells of Mammalian brain: Biology of Stem Cells in vitro and in vivo, Izv. Ross. Akad. Nauk. Ser.biol., 2001, no. 6, pp. 646-655.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster, P.L. and MacLeod, R.D., Characteristics of Root Apical Meristem Cell Population Kinetics: A Review of Analyses and Concepts, Environ. Exp. Bot., 1980, vol. 20, pp. 335-358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weigel, D. and Jürgens, G., Stem Cells That Make Stem Cells, Nature (London), 2002, vol. 415, pp. 751-755.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zavarzin, A.A., On Origin of Multicellulalrity, Tr. Tomsk. Un-ta, 1946, vol. 97, pp. 73-102.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Botanicheskaya ul. 35, Moscow, 127276, Russia

    V. B. Ivanov

Authors
  1. V. B. Ivanov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ivanov, V.B. The Problem of Stem Cells in Plants. Russian Journal of Developmental Biology 34, 205–212 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024988214581

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024988214581

Search

Navigation