Molecular genetics of ratoon meristem regeneration in arabidopsis

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In nature, plants and trees can suffer decapitation due to herbivore attack, environmental damage, disease or human harvesting. Remarkably, some plant species have the ability to regenerate new above-ground organs: at the wound site, cells switch their fate to become embryonic stem cells (the shoot apical meristem) capable of regenerating a new shoot or trunk. How this regeneration occurs is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in all of science according to the Editors of the journal, Science. For decades, this process has remained a mystery in terms of the genes involved, because there has not been an ideal model system in which to explore in depth. In the "fruitfly" of plant biology, Arabidopsis, we have created a model system to explore plant shoot regeneration, and are asking fundamental questions about the cells and genes involved. Our breakthrough system, which we call ratooning, is a model for plant regeneration in the wild: for example, decapitated tree trunks regenerate novel shoots from the remaining stump months or years after injury; in our system, a new shoot emerges within 5-10 days following decapitation and we can test thousands of plants in only a few weeks. Because shoot regeneration is typically more limiting than root regeneration, any genes we identify could be used to breed or promote shoot regeneration in other plant or tree species; alternatively, encoded proteins may be used to screen for novel chemical targets to improve regenerative ability. Potential applications for these future resources include: the breeding or engineering of trunk-regenerating trees for rapid reforestation and orchard propagation worldwide; more horticultural species capable of being regenerated; and wider use of this technology in poor countries to create crops (e.g. tissue culture bananas in Africa) that are virus-free, as many plant viruses that transmit through seed cannot transmit through regenerated stem cells.