title: Involvement of Plant Stem Cells or Stem Cell-Like Cells in Dedifferentiation.
abstract: Dedifferentiation is the transformation of cells from a given differentiated state to a less differentiated or stem cell-like state. Stem cell-related genes play important roles in dedifferentiation, which exhibits similar histone modification and DNA methylation features to stem cell maintenance. Hence, stem cell-related factors possibly synergistically function to provide a specific niche beneficial to dedifferentiation. During callus formation in Arabidopsis petioles, cells adjacent to procambium cells (stem cell-like cells) are dedifferentiated and survive more easily than other cell types. This finding indicates that stem cells or stem cell-like cells may influence the dedifferentiating niche. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of stem cell maintenance and dedifferentiation regulation. We also summarize current knowledge of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying the balance between differentiation and dedifferentiation. Furthermore, we discuss the correlation of stem cells or stem cell-like cells with dedifferentiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Life Science and Technology, Tongji University , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Fangwei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Life Science and Technology, Tongji University , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Translational Center for Stem Cell Research, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji Hospital , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Hailiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Life Science and Technology, Tongji University , Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
keywords: asexual reproduction; callus; dedifferentiation; epigenetic; plant stem cell