Integrated analysis of stem cell function in plant growth and development

干细胞在植物和动物的发育中都至关重要，因为它们是非特化细胞的自我维持的储存库，为组织和器官的形成提供前体细胞。干细胞具有维持自我的能力，也能产生具有不同特征的子代细胞(称为“分化”细胞)。因此，干细胞的维持对所有多细胞生物体都是至关重要的，对医学和农业中的再生生物学具有突出的意义。考虑到干细胞的终生重要性，它们被安全地隐藏在所谓的干细胞利基环境中，这些干细胞利基提供了促进自我更新和抑制细胞分化为不同细胞类型的微环境。植物干细胞生态位位于根尖和茎尖的分生组织中，在植物整个生命周期中对产生新的器官和组织至关重要，在某些物种中，这种新的器官和组织可以跨越数千年。在木本植物中，茎中进一步特化的圆柱形分生组织，即形成层，在次生加厚过程中特别重要，这导致木质材料的产生，这也包含干细胞。在这项提议中，我们试图使用微阵列分析来识别控制这些不同干细胞群体行为的基因。微阵列可以同时测量样本中所有基因的表达。我们将把它与先进的细胞分选技术和技术结合起来，通过转基因调控来增加干细胞的数量，这将使我们能够识别控制不同干细胞增殖的共同和独特的机制，以及它们是否以及何时分化以在各自的组织中产生不同的细胞类型。在植物中，这些指定和维持干细胞和相关基因的信号知之甚少。我们还试图了解干细胞如何对来自环境的信号做出反应。我们建议建立一个欧洲网络，由世界领先的了解(1)根干细胞[Ben Scheres，荷兰乌得勒支]，(2)芽干细胞(Thomas Laux，德国弗莱堡)，(3)形成层干细胞(Yka Helariutta，芬兰赫尔辛基)，以及吉姆·默里(英国剑桥)和奥雷里奥·坎菲罗(葡萄牙波尔图)组成的小组，他们是正在生长的植物组织图像分析的专家。

Stem cells are of central importance in the development of both plants and animals, since they are a self-maintaining reservoir of unspecialised cells that provide the precursor cells for tissue and organ formation. Stem cells have the ability to maintain temselves and also to produce daughter cells with different characteristics (called 'differentiated' cells). The maintenance of stem cells is therefore crucial for all multicellular organisms and is of outstanding significance for regenerative biology in medicine and agriculture. Given the life-long importance of stem cells, they are tucked safely from harm's way, in so-called stem cell niches that provide a microenvironment promoting self-renewal and inhibiting cell differentiation into different cell types. Plant stem cell niches are located in meristems at root and shoot tips, and are pivotal to the production of new organs and tissues throughout the plant life cycle that in some species can span several thousand years. In woody plants a further specialised cylindrical meristem within the stem, the cambium, is of particular importance in secondary thickening that results in production of woody material, and this also contains stem cells. In this proposal, we seek to use microarray analysis to identify the genes that control behaviour of these different populations of stem cells. Microarrays allow simultaneous measurement of the expression of all genes in a sample. We will combine this with advanced cell sorting technologies and techniques to increase the number of stem cells by transgenic regulation, and this will allow us to identify common and distinct mechanisms that control the proliferation of different stem cells and whether and when they differentiate to give rise to different cell types in their respective tissues. In plants, these signals that specify and maintain stem cells and the genes involved are poorly understood. We also seek to understand how stem cells respond to cues from the environment. We propose a European network composed of the world leading groups involved in understanding (1) root stem cells [Ben Scheres, Utrecht, Netherlands], (2) shoot stem cells (Thomas Laux, Freiburg, Germany], (3) the cambial stem cells (Yka Helariutta, Helsinki, Finland), together with the group of Jim Murray (Cambridge, UK) who are experts in the control of cell division, and Aurelio Camphilo (Porto, Portugal), experts in image analysis of growing plant tissue.