Evidence of WUSCHEL (WOX2) gene expression during induction of somatic embryogenesis from apical shoot buds of mature trees of Pinus roxburghii

This study highlights for the first time the expression of transcription factor, WOX2(WUSCHEL homeobox 2) in the embryogenic tissue derived from the apical shoot buds ofmature trees of 3 genotypes of P. roxburghii. Therefore, PrWOX2 could be used as a potentialmolecular signature for the identification of embryogenic cultures during the earlydevelopment of somatic embryos in conifers. On the other hand, the non-embryogenic tissueof shoot bud cultures which were initiated without cold treatment (control) failed to showthe expression of WOX2. This clearly demonstrates the role of WOX2 in the somaticembryogenesis pathway and might be directly related to the stress conditions.