Cellular reprogramming is an essential biological phenomenon in which cells degenerate from a specialized, differentiated state into a simple, undifferentiated cell type. Differentiated plant cells can retain the ability to be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells during regeneration. Therefore, elucidating how cell reprogramming occurs is essential to help us understand the mechanisms by which cell division and differentiation occur. Reprogramming of differentiated cells into pluripotent stem cells is frequently observed in plants and is easier to induce in plants than in animals. Compared with animal cells, differentiated plant cells possess multiple developmental potentials during development and retain plasticity that allows for dedifferentiation. However, the genetic and molecular basis of this difference between plant and animal cells is mostly unknown. Research on animal cell reprogramming is limited due to the lack of suitable and convenient experimental systems. Plant protoplasts (plant cells without cell walls) provide excellent experimental tools for studying the biochemical and molecular basis of cellular reprogramming into stem cells.
Fig. 1. Mesophyll protoplast reprogramming to totipotency. (Pasternak et al., 2020)
The phenomenon of plant cell reprogramming and its mechanisms have been studied using different systems based mainly on multicellular explants derived from leaves or roots. However, interpreting data from regenerative systems is complicated because these explants contain different cell types with different epigenetic and metabolic characteristics. Lifeasible is committed to studying cell reprogramming to stem cells through protoplasts.
Studying cell reprogramming requires a reliable source of high-quality protoplasts. We select the tissue source of the protoplasts based on two main criteria: the type of organ and the type of cells that make up the organ. In addition, we can isolate complete and high-quality protoplasts from leaves (chloroplasts), roots (root protoplasts), and healing tissues (healing tissue protoplasts).
Protoplasts undergo three phases during cell division activation and totipotency transition and are accompanied by various epigenetic, physiological, and molecular processes. Lifeasible offers the following plant protoplast systems to explore the mechanisms of stem cell reprogramming and key candidate regulators.
Species | Approach | Process |
Nicotiana tabacum | Fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS), gel electrophoresis of DNA after micrococcal nuclease (MNase) digestion | Chromatin condensation/decondensation |
Cucumis sativus | FACS, fluorescence in situ hybridisation | Chromocenter and repeat reassembly |
Medicago sativa | Flow cytometry, nucleus morphology | Chromatin relaxation, DNA stainability |
Nicotiana tabacum | Nucleus morphology, gene expression | Histone H3 modifications, redistribution of HP1, activation of the E2F transcription factor genes |
Brassica oleracea | Cucumis sativus quantification of methylated and hydroxymethylated DNA | Temporal changes in the amount of 5-mC and 5-hmC |
Lifeasible provides protoplasts from various plant species and sources to help clients better understand the systems biology of plant cell reprogramming. We focus on analyzing the transcriptome during reprogramming plant protoplasts into stem cells. Contact us today to learn more about our solutions.
Reference
Lifeasible has established a one-stop service platform for plants. In addition to obtaining customized solutions for plant genetic engineering, customers can also conduct follow-up analysis and research on plants through our analysis platform. The analytical services we provide include but are not limited to the following:
July 13, 2024