Biologists Find Stem-Cell-Like Functions In Ordinary Cells

mattrandy123 writes with news that scientists from NYU and Utrecht University have discovered ordinary plant cells can fulfill some of the same regenerative functions previously attributed to stem cells. Quoting: "In the study, the researchers cut off the plant's root tip, thereby excising the stem cell niche, and examined the return of cell identities by measuring all gene activity. The results suggested that stem cells returned quite late in regeneration after other cells were already replaced. The researchers then used mutant plants in which the stem cell niche no longer functions to confirm their initial observations. Despite the absence of the stem cell niche, the plant's ordinary cells worked to regenerate all the major tissues constituting the root tip — a process that began hours after it had been removed. However, researchers found that plants without functional stem cell niches could not resume normal growth, showing that other cells did not replace all functions of stem cells."

Comments

plants are easy

[F�an�ro]

I thought getting a new plants from a few cells was something possible for a long time, and quite easy?

Often simply putting a piece into soil has a gopod chance of success, and with the right chemical treatment, anything is possible?

This would imply the existence of these stem-cell like cells, but it does not translate that well to animals.

Re:plants are easy

[Anonymous Coward]

This is fairly true for many plant cells. They form many of their different cell types much later in their life cycle and are not "born" with these cell types already present. Therefore, of course they need some sort of stem-cell-like capability for normal development.

So this is really not news.

Re:Animal

[sam_handelman]

None, zero and zilch.

  Plants and animals have a distinct origin of multicellularity. Many of the genes used to control patterning are homologous between the two clades, but that's as far as it goes.

  Now, something similar may very well happen in some animals, where somatic tissue cells resume dividing in response to injury. But these experiments tell you nothing about that, one way or another.