Plants can be used to unlock secrets useful for human stem cell research

Plants share many similar stem cell traits to humans and can be used to unlock secrets useful for human stem cell research, according to University of Melbourne biology experts.

Professor Mohan Singh and Professor Prem Bhalla, who head the University’s Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Laboratory in the Faculty of Land and Food Resources, said there are opportunities for cross-disciplinary research in the stem cells field.

They called for a new wave of research into plant stem cells’ molecular properties and niches in a recent Trends in Plant Science journal article.

The scientists said one of the advantages of working with plant cells, apart from reducing ethical concerns, is that they are largely “uncommitted” – meaning they have the potential to change and adapt to areas other than where they originated.

“In human stem cell research scientists are trying to find ways to introduce stem cells from somewhere else to repair damaged tissues,” Professor Singh said.

“Plant tissues and organs show remarkable regenerative ability that is not observed in animal systems and if scientists can better understand the process involved in plant stem cell regrowth they can utilise that knowledge in human research.”

The researchers say that the ability to create a complete new organism with a whole set of cells – known as stem cell totipotency and best exemplified in humans as a fertilised egg – was recognised in plants as long ago as 1902 when scientists suggested individual plant cells could give rise to a complete plant.

Key similarities between plant and animal stem cells are only now being identified, with recent discoveries including specialised organ location, and neighbouring cells that release signals required for stem cell regulation.

Similarities in gene circuitries regulating stem cells have also been identified.

“Genetic switches in plants and animals will be different, but there are lessons that can be brought across from each discipline – the key is interdisciplinary science,” Professor Singh said.

Professors Singh and Bhalla say that ethics and legal concerns are major hurdles for human stem cell researchers, but not for scientists working with plants.

“It is easier to conduct a far wider range of research,” Professor Singh said.