Stress-Induced Carrot Somatic Embryos and their Applicability to Synthetic Seed

Historical review of research on plant cell dedifferentiation

Plant cell dedifferentiation has long attracted interest as a key process for understanding the plasticity of plant development. In early studies, typical examples of plant cell dedifferentiation were described as physiological and cytological changes associated with wound healing or regenerative development. Subsequently, plant tissue and cell culture techniques, in which exciting progress was achieved after discovery of the hormonal control of cell proliferation and organogenesis in vitro in the 1950s, have been used extensively to study dedifferentiation. The pioneer studies of plant tissue/cell culture led to the hypothesis that many mature plant cells retain totipotency and related dedifferentiation to the initial step of the expression of totipotency. Plant tissue/cell cultures have provided experimental systems not only for physiological analysis, but also for genetic and molecular biological analysis, of dedifferentiation. More recently, proteomic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic analyses have been applied to the study of plant cell dedifferentiation. All of these works have expanded our knowledge of plant cell dedifferentiation, and current research is contributing to unraveling the molecular mechanisms. The present article provides a brief overview of the history of research on plant cell dedifferentiation.

The molecular basis for stress-induced acquisition of somatic embryogenesis

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) has been studied as a model system for understanding of molecular events in the physiology, biochemistry, and biology areas occurring during plant embryo development. Stresses are also the factors that have been increasingly recognized as having important role in the induction of SE. Plant growth regulators such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), ABA, ethylene, and high concentrations of 2,4-D are known as stress-related substances for acquisition of embryogenic competence by plant cells. Gene expression analysis in both the proteome and transcriptome levels have led to the identification and characterization of some stress-related genes and proteins associated with SE. This review focuses on the molecular basis for stress-induced acquisition of SE.

Analysis of expression profile of selected genes expressed during auxin-induced somatic embryogenesis in leaf base system of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and their possible interactions

Somatic embryogenesis is a notable illustration of plant totipotency and involves reprogramming of development in somatic cells toward the embryogenic pathway. Auxins are key components as their exogenous application recuperates the embryogenic potential of the mitotically quiescent somatic cells. In order to unravel the molecular basis of somatic embryogenesis, cDNA library was made from the regeneration proficient wheat leaf base segments treated with auxin. In total, 1440 clones were sequenced and among these 1,196 good quality sequences were assembled into 270 contigs and 425 were singletons. By reverse northern analysis, a total of 57 clones were found to be upregulated during somatic embryogenesis, 64 during 2,4-D treatment, and 170 were common to 2,4-D treatment and somatic embryogenesis. A substantial number of genes involved in hormone response, signal transduction cascades, defense, anti-oxidation, programmed cell death/senescence and cell division were identified and characterized partially. Analysis of data of select genes suggests that the induction phase of somatic embryogenesis is accompanied by the expression of genes that may also be involved in zygotic embryogenesis. The developmental reprogramming process may in fact involve multiple cellular pathways and unfolding of as yet unknown molecular events. Thus, an interaction network draft using bioinformatics and system biology strategy was constructed. The outcome of a systematic and comprehensive analysis of somatic embryogenesis associated interactome in a monocot leaf base system is presented.

Abscisic acid and stress treatment are essential for the acquisition of embryogenic competence by carrot somatic cells

Studies of carrot embryogenesis have suggested that abscisic acid (ABA) is involved in somatic embryogenesis. A relationship between endogenous ABA and the induction of somatic embryogenesis was demonstrated using stress-induced system of somatic embryos. The embryonic-specific genes C-ABI3 and embryogenic cell proteins (ECPs) were expressed during stress treatment prior to the formation of somatic embryos. The stress-induction system for embryogenesis was clearly distinguished by two phases: the acquisition of embryogenic competence and the formation of a somatic embryo. Somatic embryo formation was inhibited by the application of fluridone (especially at 10(-4) M), a potent inhibitor of ABA biosynthesis, during stress treatment. The inhibitory effect of fluridone was nullified by the simultaneous application of fluridone and ABA. The level of endogenous ABA increased transiently during stress. However, somatic embryogenesis was not significantly induced by the application of only ABA to the endogenous level, in the absence of stress. These results suggest that the induction of somatic embryogenesis, in particular the acquisition of embryogenic competence, is caused not only by the presence of ABA but also by physiological responses that are directly controlled by stresses.

Stress-induced somatic embryogenesis in vegetative tissues of Arabidopsis thaliana

Somatic embryogenesis is an obvious experimental evidence of totipotency, and is used as a model system for studying the mechanisms of de-differentiation and re-differentiation of plant cells. Although Arabidopsis is widely used as a model plant for genetic and molecular biological studies, there is no available tissue culture system for inducing somatic embryogenesis from somatic cells in this plant. We established a new tissue culture system using stress treatment to induce somatic embryogenesis in Arabidopsis. In this system, stress treatment induced formation of somatic embryos from shoot-apical-tip and floral-bud explants. The somatic embryos grew into young plantlets with normal morphology, including cotyledons, hypocotyls, and roots, and some embryo-specific genes (ABI3 and FUS3) were expressed in these embryos. Several stresses (osmotic, heavy metal ion, and dehydration stress) induced somatic embryogenesis, but the optimum stress treatment differed between different stressors. When we used mannitol to cause osmotic stress, the optimal conditions for somatic embryogenesis were 6-9 h of culture on solid B5 medium containing 0.7 m mannitol, after which the explants were transferred to B5 medium containing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D, 4.5 microm), but no mannitol. Using this tissue culture system, we induced somatic embryogenesis in three major ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana-Ws, Col, and Ler.