Molecular genetics of ratoon meristem regeneration in arabidopsis

在自然界中，植物和树木可能因食草动物的攻击、环境破坏、疾病或人类的收割而遭受斩首。值得注意的是，一些植物物种具有再生新的地上器官的能力：在伤口部位，细胞改变它们的命运，成为胚胎干细胞（茎尖分生组织），能够再生新的茎或主干。根据《科学》杂志编辑的说法，这种再生是如何发生的，是所有科学中最大的未解之谜之一。几十年来，就涉及的基因而言，这一过程仍然是一个谜，因为没有一个理想的模型系统可以深入探索。在植物生物学的“果蝇”拟南芥中，我们已经创建了一个模型系统来探索植物芽再生，并提出了有关细胞和基因的基本问题。我们的突破性系统，我们称之为再生，是一个野生植物再生的模型：例如，被砍掉的树干在受伤几个月或几年后，从剩下的树桩上再生出新的芽；在我们的系统中，在斩首后的5-10天内会长出新芽，我们可以在短短几周内测试数千株植物。由于茎部再生通常比根再生更受限制，因此我们发现的任何基因都可以用于培育或促进其他植物或树种的茎部再生；另外，编码蛋白可用于筛选新的化学靶标以提高再生能力。这些未来资源的潜在应用包括：在世界范围内培育或改造树干再生树木，用于快速再造林和果园繁殖；更多的园艺品种能够再生；以及在贫穷国家更广泛地使用这种技术来培育无病毒的作物（例如非洲的组织培养香蕉），因为许多通过种子传播的植物病毒不能通过再生的干细胞传播。

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.