Suppression by 5-Bromo-2'-deoxyuridine of Transdifferentiation into Tracheary Elements of Isolated Mesophyll Cells of Zinnia elegans

5-Bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU), a thymidine analog, suppressedthe transdifferentiation into tracheary elements (TE) of isolatedmesophyll cells of Zinnia elegans without affecting cell division.Tracer experiments with [³H]BrdU indicated that 76% and 24%of the incorporated radioactivity was located in the DNA andthe RNA, respectively. Both thymidine and uridine counteractedthe inhibitory effect of BrdU on transdifferentiation but thymidinewas much more effective than uridine. These results suggestthat BrdU might interfere with transdifferentiation via itsincorporation into DNA. The timing of effective suppressionby BrdU was examined by monitoring the effects of the sequentialaddition of BrdU and thymidine with an interval of 12 h at varioustimes in culture. Transdifferentiation was most sensitive toBrdU between the 24th and the 36th hour of culture. This resultsuggests that this window of time is critical for DNA synthesisduring the transdifferentiation of isolated mesophyll cellsof Zinnia elegans into TE. ³Present address: Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences,Faculty of Science, Japan Women's University, Mejiro, Tokyo,112 Japan