Cellular Markers for Somatic Embryogenesis

IntroductionSomatic embryogenesis (SE) is a process in which somatic cells under special conditions develop into embryos and -in the end -into a plant.That is why SE is a good model system for studying the genetic, molecular, physiological, biochemical, histological and cellular mechanisms underlying not only somatic but also zygotic embryogenesis and the totipotency of plant cells.SE begins with a transition of somatic cells to an embryogenic state and it can be induced under certain in vitro conditions.The mechanisms which determine SE induction -the transition of cells from the vegetative to the embryogenic state and the conditions underlying such changes -are the main questions of developmental biology (for a review see: de