4 - Cellular Differentiation Flashcards
Meristems are…
Regions of unspecialised cells in plants
What happens when a cell differentiates?
Many genes are switched off so that the only ones left are the ones that code for specific proteins that cell type needs
Embryonic stem cells are…
Totipotent
At the blastocyst stage, cells are…
Pluripotent
Tissue (adult) stem cells are…
Multipotent
Stem cells are found in which organisms?
All multicellular organisms
Stem cells do the 2 following things…
1) Self-Renew
2) Differentiate
Totipotent means…
A stem cell that has potential to become all cell types (including placenta)
Pluripotent means…
A stem cell that has the potential to become any cell type (except the placenta)
Multipotent means…
A stem cell with limited differentiation possibilities
- can only differentiate into cells similar to that of the tissue where they are located
Tissue (adult) stem cells are Multipotent because…
Many of the genes have already been switched off, and so can not code for all protein types anymore
What is cellular differentiation?
The process by which an unspecialised cell becomes altered and adapted to perform a special function as part of a permanent tissue
