Molecular genetics of ratoon meristem regeneration in arabidopsis

在自然界中，植物和树木可能由于食草动物的攻击，环境破坏，疾病或人类收获而遭受斩首。 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，细胞将它们的命运转变为胚胎干细胞（茎顶端分生组织），能够再生新的茎或树干。 根据《科学》杂志的编辑所说，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，这个过程在涉及的基因方面仍然是一个谜，因为还没有一个理想的模型系统来深入探索。 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，并正在询问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，是野生植物再生的模型：例如，断头的树干在受伤数月或数年后从剩余的树桩中再生出新的芽;在我们的系统中，断头后5-10天内出现新的芽，我们可以在短短几周内测试数千株植物。由于芽再生通常比根再生更受限制，我们发现的任何基因都可以用于繁殖或促进其他植物或树种的芽再生;或者，编码的蛋白质可以用于筛选新的化学靶点以提高再生能力。这些未来资源的潜在应用包括：培育或设计树干再生树木，以便在全世界迅速重新造林和果园繁殖;更多的园艺物种能够再生;在贫穷国家更广泛地使用这种技术，以培育无病毒作物（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.