In some plant species (e.g. in most of angiosperms), cell differentiation may be accompanied by endopolyploidization either viaendomitosis or endoreduplication. Thus, in addition to diploid cells in G1-, S-, or G2- phase of the cell cycle, differentiated plant tissues may contain endopolyploid cells whose DNA content ranges from 4C to 128C or even more.
Figure 17. Schematic representation of the cell cycle with endomitosis (EM) and endoreduplication (ER) pathways.
Figure 18. Changes of nuclear DNA content during one endoreduplication cycle (shaded area)
Figure 19. Histogram of relative DNA content of nuclei isolated from a parenchymatic tissue of a cactus plant. Note the presence of peaks representing endopolyploid nuclei with DNA content up to 32C.
