SPONTANEOUS AND INDUCED APOPTOSIS IN SALT STRESSED EMBRYOGENIC SUSPENSION CULTURES OF

ABSTRACT. In multicellular organisms cell death accompanies many biological processes involving cell proliferation and development. There is clear evidence that cell death during plant development and interactions with the environment involves PCD. Apoptosis in plants and plant cells in culture has received much less attention than its animal counterpart. In present study we investigate DNA fragmentation, which is the hallmark of apoptosis, at different physiological and stress-related conditions in embryogenic suspension cultures of Dactylis glomerata L. We used heat shock (42oC for 6 h) and NaCl in different concentrations (5, 10 or 15 g.L-1). Here we demonstrate that suspension cultures from D.glomerata L. show spontaneous apoptosis without heat and NaCl treatment, but 5 g.L-1 NaCl block the spontaneous apoptosis. We find induced apoptosis when treating with NaCl in a concentration 10 g.L-1 without heat stress as well as in heat shocked cultures treated with 5 or 10 g.L-1 NaCl