Plant Cell Differentiation & Dedifferentiation
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ScribdTranslationsPlant Cell Differentiation & Dedifferentiation
Translated by
ScribdTranslationsCHAPTER II: Cellular Differentiation and Dedifferentiation
1- Definition
Cell differentiation is the process that leads to the specialization of cells that
acquire new structures and specialized functions.
In plants, this process is expressed in the cells of growth zones, cells
called meristematic cells.
2- Characteristics of meristematic cells
A meristematic cell can be characterized by:
His undifferentiated state: Generally all the cells are very similar:
* reduced size, isometric,
they are not yet or hardly vacuolated.
Their wall is pecto-cellulosic, thin.
The cytoplasm is relatively dense, the nucleus large. The organelles present in it
those who have not themselves started - or little - their differentiation.
Their mitotic power: Meristematic cells are capable of dividing.
indefinitely allowing the plant infinite growth.
On totipotency: In plants, unlike animals, the meristematic cells
are totipotent, they are capable of differentiating into all types of cells.
3- Characteristics of differentiation
The differentiation process is primarily present in embryos and areas of
growth
It remains very active throughout the life of the plant organism (whereas in animals, the
cellular differentiation is mostly confined to the early stages of life
It is clearly reversible: A mature and perfectly differentiated plant cell into a
cellular type can dedifferentiate after having lived a certain time in this
state of differentiation.
4- Factors leading to differentiation
The differentiation process engine depends on:
genetic factors that result from the organized activity of genes.
epigenetic factors resulting from the interaction of cells with each other
(membrane contact, hormonal actions, etc.).
environmental factors that play an important role during
differentiation in plant cells.
5- Differentiation criteria
Cell differentiation can be approached at several levels of organization (tissues,
cell, organelles, molecular level
More extensive in plants than in animals, it mainly involves the
specific organelles of the plant kingdom.
.
a- the vacuoles: Vacuolization is a morphological and functional phenomenon
characteristic of the beginning of the differentiation process.
Difficult to observe in the meristematic state, vacuolization seems to begin with:
the formation of a network of microtubules, giving rise to vesicles spreading out
in the entire cytoplasm.
Growth and fusion of these vesicles to occupy a large part of the volume
intracellular
Appearance of their simple wall: the tonoplast
Increase in vacuolar volume and acquisition of its dual role of purification and
storage
b- plastids: Differentiation is also realized through the transformation of plastids.
which reveal the particular importance of the environment in the expression of the
plant differentiation
In illuminated vegetative points, proplastids transform into chloroplasts as soon as they emerge.
from the meristematic state. This transformation is manifested by:
The increase in the size of protoplasts
The development of thylakoids:
massive synthesis of enzymes involved in photosynthesis and gas fixation
carboxylic (ribulose diphosphate carboxylase)
c- the cell wall: the walls (support fibers, protective layers - epidermis, cork -
conducting elements vessels, tracheids;
The cell wall also plays a fundamental role in structural differentiation.
functional of plant cells: In young cells, the cell wall or wall
Primary is plastic which allows for the regulation of cell growth. At the end of
growth, this wall changes and 2 cases can arise:
In some cases, it consolidates and simply loses its plasticity properties.
maintaining a pectocellulosic composition similar to that of the primary wall
In other cases, it is modified by the addition of various substances.
Differentiation of a young cell into a chlorophyllous cell
6- Intensity of differentiation
The process of differentiation involves a variable intensity modification of characteristics.
initials of embryonic and meristematic cells
In the most subtle cases, this differentiation is only expressed by the start of
biochemical pathways leading to the presence of compounds "secondary metabolites", which
were not present in the initial state.
In cases where the intensity of the phenomenon is greater, a multiplicity is observed.
transformations :
Creation of new cellular elements (framework of the tracheids)
destruction of cytoplasmic domains (degeneration of the nucleus during the formation of
sieved cells)
total resorption of cellular content (formation of vessel cells, not becoming
operational only after their death.
Example of intense transformation in a xylem cell
a) Differentiation of the cytoplasm:
The cell begins to differentiate into a typical parenchyma cell.
Its size increases,
The organelles constituting its cytoplasm complete their differentiation: increase in
number of mitochondria, dictyosomes, membrane systems of the reticulum
endoplasmic, possible chloroplasts.
the large central vacuole of the typical plant cell is formed.
The cell has elongated strongly in the direction of stretching of the organ where it is located.
In a second stage, the cell will enter a phase of degeneration:
The cytoplasm is profoundly reshaped.
The vacuolar membrane is ruptured and the content of the vacuole dissolves more or less the
hyaloplasm.
Mitochondria, plastids, and Golgi apparatus see their numbers decrease and their structures significantly altered.
Through significant hydrolyses, they eventually disappear completely.
The endoplasmic reticulum is itself hydrolyzed and eliminated.
In the end, it is the entirety of the cytoplasm that is destroyed: the cell is reduced to its wall.
pecto-cellulosic. It is a dead cell that will make up the circulation material of
raw sap.
b) Differentiation of the pecto-cellulosic wall:
Strongly stretched, the cell now exhibits the following characteristics:
Cell taking the shape of a cylinder
The side walls will then harden and become waterproof through the embedding of lignin.
(wall decorations). Several types of decorations have been described:
ringed ornamentation
The wall remains largely pecto-cellulosic. The lignin deposits are located by
places where they form rigid rings, primarily designed to allow the cell
to maintain its diameter
b) Spiraled ornamentation
The incrustations in this type of lignification are more significant than in a). This is a
lignin spiral more or less dense that deposits on the pecto-cellulosic walls
Diagram of the events occurring during the differentiation of a xylem cell
7- The stages of differentiation
The process of cell differentiation includes two essential steps: determination
and specialization.
7.1- The determination or exit from the meristematic state
This is the process representing the beginning of differentiation. The cells oriented in a
sequence of events will experience, first of all, new events to come out
from their undifferentiated state, they begin to grow and reorganize without a path of
precise differentiation is not yet observable
7.2. Cellular specialization
At the end of the growth period, the cell acquires the following characteristics:
large vacuole
structured plates.
cytoplasm rich in ribosomes and free polysomes or associated with large sheets of
endoplasmic reticulum.
nucleus displaying large nucleoli.
Often at this stage, the dictyosomes are numerous and bud a quantity of vesicles of
secretion (Golgian phase).
Several types of cells may present themselves:
Some cells do not go beyond this stage of structuring. These are the cells
parenchymatous cells that occupy the main mass of herbaceous organs. Their specialization
is located at the level of the vacuoles or at the level of the plastids: chloroplasts in the organs
illuminated aerials; amyloplasts in underground organs; chromoplasts in flowers and
the fruits.
b- Other cells continue to make further changes, two possibilities may
to exist
In the simplest case, all cells evolve in the same way. This results in a
homogeneous tissue made up of a single type of cell with thick pectocellulosic walls
The collenchyma
In the second case, the associated cells differentiate divergently leading to
a heterogeneous tissue containing cell types with contrasting characteristics
Ex 1: the epidermis contains covering cells, stomatal cells,
tectonic cells, others secretory.
The phloem contains conducting sieve cells, companion cells,
parenchymal cells which are often supplemented by support fibers
Phloem cell
II - Dedifferentiation
1- Definition of cellular dedifferentiation
Dedifferentiation is a cellular rejuvenation resulting in the loss of its
previous specialization. It manifests overall as a more or less profound return
from the original meristematic state cell
2- Process of dedifferentiation
In case of injury to the plant, a fungal attack, or significant changes in factors
environmental factors, etc., a perfectly differentiated plant cell can dedifferentiate
after having already lived for some time in this state of differentiation.
The intracellular processes involved in dedifferentiation appear as a
reverse differentiation:
Initially, their protoplasm loses the characteristics of their differentiation.
initial. The reserves are absorbed and the plastids regress to the state of undifferentiated plastids.
During successive divisions, the vacuoles fragment and gradually the
Cells formed regain characteristics of embryonic cells.
3- Cellular reprogramming and totipotency
Differentiated plant cells remain almost all totipotent: in case of
environmental stimulation, specialized cells can dedifferentiate, then
to arrange in histogenic generating zones or to organize in primary meristems
newly formed, then reprogram themselves to become, thanks to their totipotency, a cell of a
another type or a new differentiated organ.
It is thanks to this reversibility between differentiated state and undifferentiated state that multiplication
vegetative, natural or induced, occurs in plants. It allows for the multiplication of
individuals without going through sexual reproduction.