What chimeras can tell us about plant development

The generation and analysis of plant chimeras and other genetic mosaics have been used to deduce patterns of cell division and cell fate during plant development and to demonstrate the existence of clonally distinct cell lineages in the shoot meristems of higher plants. Cells derived from these lineages do not have fixed developmental fates but rely on positional information to determine their patterns of division and differentiation. Chimeras with cells that differ genetically for specific developmental processes have been experimentally generated by a variety of methods. This review focuses on studies of intercellular interactions during plant development as well as of the coordination of cells during meristem function and organogenesis. Recent experiments combining mosaic analysis with molecular analysis of developmental mutants have begun to shed light on the nature of the signals involved in these processes and the mechanisms by which they are transmitted and received among cells.