Cell polyploidisation can be achieved by endoreduplication, which consists
of one or several rounds of DNA synthesis in the absence of mitosis. As a c
onsequence, chromosomes with 2(n) chromatids are produced without change in
the chromosome number. Endoreduplication is the most common mode of polypl
oidisation in plants and can be found in many cell types, especially in tho
se undergoing differentiation and expansion. Although accumulating data rev
eal that this process is developmentally regulated, it is still poorly unde
rstood in plants. At the molecular level, the increasing knowledge on plant
cell cycle regulators allows the acquisition of new tools and clues to und
erstand the basis of endoreduplication control and, in particular, the swit
ch between cell proliferation and cell differentiation.