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Review article2016Peer reviewed

Cambial stem cells and their niche

Johnsson, Christoffer; Fischer, Urs

Abstract

Unlike animals, plants often have an indefinite genetic potency to form new organs throughout their entire lifespan. Growth and organogenesis are driven by cell divisions in meristems at distinct sites within the plant. Since the meristems contributing to axial thickening in dicots (cambia) are separated from places where axes elongate (apical meristems); there is a need of communication to coordinate growth. In their behavior, some meristematic cells resemble animal stem cells whose daughter cells either maintain the capacity to divide over a long period of time or undergo differentiation. The behavior of stem cells is regulated by their microenvironment, the so called niche. The stem- and niche-cell concept is now also widely accepted for apical meristems. An integral part of the cambial niche has recently been localized to the phloem. It steers cell division activity in the cambium via the release of a peptide signal and may be a hub to integrate signals from other stem cell populations to coordinate growth. Although these signals have yet to be determined, the discovery of the cambial niche cells will pave the way for a better understanding of inter-meristematic communication and cambial stem cell behavior. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Stem cell; Niche cells; Cambium; Auxin; Peptide signaling

Published in

Plant Science
2016, volume: 252, pages: 239-245
Publisher: ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2016.08.002

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/82845