BRAINCAKEStem Cells in Mature Plants
Plants keep growing throughout their lives, and in mature plants many cells remain totipotent. These cells are found in meristems, regions of unspecialised cells that divide by mitosis.
• Apical meristems at the tips of shoots and roots produce growth in length.
• Lateral meristems produce growth in width. The vascular cambium is a lateral meristem that divides to form new xylem and phloem.
Cells produced by meristems differentiate into specialised cells such as xylem vessels, phloem sieve tube elements, palisade cells and root hair cells. As in animals, a cell specialises because it expresses only some of its genes.
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Key terms in this lesson
- totipotent
- Describes a cell, such as the zygote, that can divide and differentiate into any type of body cell, including extra-embryonic tissue.
More in Control of Gene Expression
- Totipotent Stem Cells
- Pluripotent, Multipotent and Unipotent Stem Cells
- Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
- Stem Cells in Treating Disease
- Transcription Factors
- Oestrogen and the Initiation of Transcription
- RNA Interference (siRNA and miRNA)
- Epigenetics
All 18 lessons in Control of Gene Expression · All AQA A-level Biology topics