From: "Randall M. Story" story at caltech.edu> on 2002.06.05 at 06:02:26(8954)
Marc,
You're probably right about that.
However, at least some leaf cells must retain the ability to (eventually)
form all the tissues of an Amorphophallus--leaf, petiole, tuber, roots, etc.
since some of these plants can be propagated by leaf cuttings. That is,
there must be at least some cells present in leaves that are capable of
de-differentiating and forming "stem cells" capable of regenerating all cell
types. Or perhaps stem cells are still present in the leaves? (someone help
me on this...)
I suppose the question boils down to exactly what the various sorts of
bulbils actually are. Is it a sort of specialized tissue(s) or structure
that can only be formed by certain species that possess particular gene(s),
or is it something common to all of these guys? If the former, then it's
probably unlikely it can be produced in other species. If the latter, then
conceivably bulbil or bulbil-like tissue could be generally produced.
Anyone out there know ?
Randy
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>From:
>To: Multiple recipients of list AROID-L
>Subject: Re: Making bulbils?
>Date: Tue, Jun 4, 2002, 2:29 PM
>
>
> I'll throw my two cents in..
>
> I dont believe you can make a species which doesnt produce aerial bulbils
> to make them...reason being.. the specific cells needed to create "bulbil"
> formation would not be present.
>
> ("Bulbil" creating "cells" are specific to that function and not just a
> leaf cell gone haywire).
>
> (Maybe it could be done by grafting cells but it sounds awfully complicated
> and not really worth it).
>
> Maybe that was more than 2 cents.
>
> Marc
>
>
> On Tue, 4 Jun 2002 13:55:42 -0500 (CDT) "Randall M. Story"
> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Just curious whether it is possible to induce (using mechanical or chemical
> means such as incisions and/or hormones) bulbil formation in species that
> don't normally make them . I'm wondering in particular whether the sorts of
> bulbils grown on the leaf axils of certain Amorphophallus species can be
> artificially coaxed out of other members of the genus.
>
> A related question: Is it possible to increase bulbil formation in species
> that normally reproduce this way?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Randy
>
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