iPSCs: A Comparison between Animals and Plants.

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are self-renewable cells with the potential to differentiate into all the cell types within an organism. PSCs exist transiently in early-stage mammalian embryos during ontogeny and are maintained in apical meristems of higher plants throughout postembryonic development. Through proper in vitro culture, somatic cells of both mammals and plants can be reprogrammed to generate induced PSCs (iPSCs). Recent studies have deciphered mechanisms underlying pluripotency gene activation and cell fate transition during plant iPSC generation. Here, we compare these mechanisms with those of their animal counterparts in the hope that this may trigger mutual learning of researchers from both fields, leading to advances and independent breakthroughs in this important area.