JXB Advance Access published online on February 5, 2008
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erm258
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOCUS REVIEW PAPER |
Programmed cell death in plants: distinguishing between different modes
School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Republic of Ireland
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: paul.mccabe{at}ucd.ie
Programmed cell death (PCD) in plants is a crucial component of development and defence mechanisms. In animals, different types of cell death (apoptosis, autophagy, and necrosis) have been distinguished morphologically and discussed in these morphological terms. PCD is largely used to describe the processes of apoptosis and autophagy (although some use PCD and apoptosis interchangeably) while necrosis is generally described as a chaotic and uncontrolled mode of death. In plants, the term PCD is widely used to describe most instances of death observed. At present, there is a vast array of plant cell culture models and developmental systems being studied by different research groups and it is clear from what is described in this mass of literature that, as with animals, there does not appear to be just one type of PCD in plants. It is fundamentally important to be able to distinguish between different types of cell death for several reasons. For example, it is clear that, in cell culture systems, the window of time in which ‘PCD’ is studied by different groups varies hugely and this can have profound effects on the interpretation of data and complicates attempts to compare different researcher's data. In addition, different types of PCD will probably have different regulators and modes of death. For this reason, in plant cell cultures an apoptotic-like PCD (AL-PCD) has been identified that is fairly rapid and results in a distinct corpse morphology which is visible 4–6 h after release of cytochrome c and other apoptogenic proteins. This type of morphology, distinct from autophagy and from necrosis, has also been observed in examples of plant development. In this review, our model system and how it is used to distinguish specifically between AL-PCD and necrosis will be discussed. The different types of PCD observed in plants will also be discussed and the importance of distinguishing between different forms of cell death will be highlighted.
Key words: Apoptosis, apoptosis-like programmed cell death (AL-PCD), Arabidopsis, autophagy, mitochondria, necrosis, programmed cell death (PCD)
Received 5 June 2007; Revised 13 September 2007 Accepted 20 September 2007
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  S. M. Doyle, M. Diamond, and P. F. McCabe Chloroplast and reactive oxygen species involvement in apoptotic-like programmed cell death in Arabidopsis suspension cultures J. Exp. Bot., November 20, 2009; (2009) erp320v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Balestrazzi, V. Locato, M. G. Bottone, L. De Gara, M. Biggiogera, C. Pellicciari, S. Botti, D. Di Gesu, M. Dona, and D. Carbonera Response to UV-C radiation in topo I-deficient carrot cells with low ascorbate levels J. Exp. Bot., November 16, 2009; (2009) erp323v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Marchive, S. Yehudai-Resheff, A. Germain, Z. Fei, X. Jiang, J. Judkins, H. Wu, A. R. Fernie, A. Fait, and D. B. Stern Abnormal Physiological and Molecular Mutant Phenotypes Link Chloroplast Polynucleotide Phosphorylase to the Phosphorus Deprivation Response in Arabidopsis Plant Physiology, October 1, 2009; 151(2): 905 - 924. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. Zhang, Q. Xu, D. Xing, C. Gao, and H. Xiong Real-Time Detection of Caspase-3-Like Protease Activation in Vivo Using Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer during Plant Programmed Cell Death Induced by Ultraviolet C Overexposure Plant Physiology, August 1, 2009; 150(4): 1773 - 1783. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. J. Affenzeller, A. Darehshouri, A. Andosch, C. Lutz, and U. Lutz-Meindl Salt stress-induced cell death in the unicellular green alga Micrasterias denticulata J. Exp. Bot., March 1, 2009; 60(3): 939 - 954. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Yee and D. R. Goring The diversity of plant U-box E3 ubiquitin ligases: from upstream activators to downstream target substrates J. Exp. Bot., March 1, 2009; 60(4): 1109 - 1121. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Thiel, D. Weier, N. Sreenivasulu, M. Strickert, N. Weichert, M. Melzer, T. Czauderna, U. Wobus, H. Weber, and W. Weschke Different Hormonal Regulation of Cellular Differentiation and Function in Nucellar Projection and Endosperm Transfer Cells: A Microdissection-Based Transcriptome Study of Young Barley Grains Plant Physiology, November 1, 2008; 148(3): 1436 - 1452. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|