Evidence suggesting protein tyrosine phosphorylation in plants depends on the developmental conditions

Protein tyrosine phosphorylation plays a central role in a variety of signal transduction pathways regulating animal cell growth and differentiation, but its relevance and role in plants are controversial and still largely unknown. We report here that a large number of proteins from all plant subcellular fractions are recognized by recombinant, highly specific, anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies. Protein tyrosine phosphorylation patterns vary among different adult plant tissues or somatic embryo stages and somatic embryogenesis is blocked in vivo by a cell-permeable tyrosyl-phosphorylation inhibitor, demonstrating the involvement of protein tyrosine phosphorylation in control of specific steps in plant development.