title: Stress induces cell dedifferentiation in plants.
abstract: Accumulating evidence lends support to the proposal that a major theme in plant responses to stresses is dedifferentiation, whereby mature cells acquire stem cell features (e.g. open chromatin conformation) prior to acquisition of a new cell fate. In this review, we discuss data addressing plant cell plasticity and provide evidence linking stress, dedifferentiation and a switch in cell fate. We emphasize the epigenetic modifications associated with stress-induced global changes in chromatin structure and conclude with the implications for genetic variation and for induced pluripotent stem cells in animals. It appears that stress is perceived as a signal that directs plant cells to undergo reprogramming (dedifferentiation) as a means for adaptation and in preparation for a stimulus-based acquisition of a new cell fate. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Stress as a fundamental theme in cell plasticity.
authors.affiliation: French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 84990, Israel. Electronic address: ggrafi@bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Gideon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grafi
authors.affiliation: French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 84990, Israel. Electronic address: simon@bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barak
mesh_terms: D054337:Cell Dedifferentiation; D065150:Cellular Reprogramming / Q000502:physiology; D002843:Chromatin / Q000737:chemistry; D059828:Plant Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin
keywords: Chromatin conformation; Dedifferentiation; Epigenetics; Genetic variation; Stem cells; Stress