Gene expression and its regulation during the cell cycle of higher plants in synchronous cell culture systems

This review paper describes the importance of synchronous cell cultures as experimental systems for investigations of mechanisms of the cell cycle of higher plants, and various methods of synchronization are discussed. The efficient synchronization methods were double phosphate starvation in Catharanthus roseus cells and aphidicolin treatment in tobacco cells. Using these systems, cell cycle-dependent genes were isolated and characterized. One of them, cyc07, was investigated in detail and the possible function of cyc07 is discussed as an example of genes involved in the progression of the cell cycle of higher plants. Finally, a perspective of investigations of the cell cycle of higher plant cells is discussed.