Nawy Tal, Lee Ji-Young, Colinas Juliette, Wang Jean Y, Thongrod Sumena C, Malamy Jocelyn E, Birnbaum Kenneth, Benfey Philip N
Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
Plant Cell. 2005 Jul;17(7):1908-25. doi: 10.1105/tpc.105.031724. Epub 2005 Jun 3.
The self-renewal characteristics of stem cells render them vital engines of development. To better understand the molecular mechanisms that determine the properties of stem cells, transcript profiling was conducted on quiescent center (QC) cells from the Arabidopsis thaliana root meristem. The AGAMOUS-LIKE 42 (AGL42) gene, which encodes a MADS box transcription factor whose expression is enriched in the QC, was used to mark these cells. RNA was isolated from sorted cells, labeled, and hybridized to Affymetrix microarrays. Comparisons with digital in situ expression profiles of surrounding tissues identified a set of genes enriched in the QC. Promoter regions from a subset of transcription factors identified as enriched in the QC conferred expression in the QC. These studies demonstrated that it is possible to successfully isolate and profile a rare cell type in the plant. Mutations in all enriched transcription factor genes including AGL42 exhibited no detectable root phenotype, raising the possibility of a high degree of functional redundancy in the QC.
干细胞的自我更新特性使其成为发育的重要驱动力。为了更好地理解决定干细胞特性的分子机制，对拟南芥根分生组织的静止中心（QC）细胞进行了转录谱分析。AGAMOUS-LIKE 42（AGL42）基因编码一种MADS盒转录因子，其表达在QC中富集，被用于标记这些细胞。从分选的细胞中分离RNA，进行标记，并与Affymetrix微阵列杂交。与周围组织的数字原位表达谱比较，鉴定出一组在QC中富集的基因。被鉴定为在QC中富集的一部分转录因子的启动子区域赋予了在QC中的表达。这些研究表明，成功分离和分析植物中一种罕见细胞类型是可能的。包括AGL42在内的所有富集转录因子基因的突变均未表现出可检测到的根表型，这增加了QC中存在高度功能冗余的可能性。
