Question: What term describes the ability of a cell to go through numerous cycles of cell division while maintaining the undifferentiated state?
About the article "Stem cell", section "Properties".

Candidate passages:
The classical definition of a stem cell requires that it possess two properties:
"Self-renewal": the ability to go through numerous cycles of cell division while maintaining the undifferentiated state.
"Potency": the capacity to differentiate into specialized cell types.
In the strictest sense, this requires stem cells to be either totipotent or pluripotent—to be able to give rise to any mature cell type, although multipotent or unipotent progenitor cells are sometimes referred to as stem cells.
Apart from this it is said that stem cell function is regulated in a feed back mechanism.
A stem cell possesses two properties:  Self-renewal, which is the ability to go through numerous cycles of cell division while still maintaining its undifferentiated state.
multipotency or multidifferentiative potential, which is the ability to generate progeny of several distinct cell types, (for example glial cells and neurons) as opposed to unipotency, which is the term for cells that are restricted to producing a single-cell type.
However, some researchers do not consider multipotency to be essential, and believe that unipotent self-renewing stem cells can exist.
These properties can be illustrated with relative ease "in vitro", using methods such as clonogenic assays, where the progeny of a single cell is characterized.
However, it is known that "in vitro" cell culture conditions can alter the behavior of cells.
Proving that a particular subpopulation of cells possesses stem cell properties "in vivo" is challenging, and so considerable debate exists as to whether some proposed stem cell populations in the adult are indeed stem cells.  
  Gamete - A haploid reproductive cell.
Sperm and ova are gametes.
Gametes fuse with another gamete during fertilization (conception) in organisms that reproduce sexually.
* Sperm - Male reproductive cell (a gamete).
* Ovum - Female reproductive cell (a gamete).
Zygote - A cell that is the result of fertilization (the fusing of two gametes).
* Egg - The zygote of most birds and reptiles, resulting from fertilization of the ovum.
The largest existing single cells currently known are (fertilized) eggs.
Meristemic cell - Undifferentiated plants cells analogous to animal stem cells.
Stem cell- Undifferentiated cells found in most multi-cellular organisms which are capable of retaining the ability to reinvigorate themselves through mitotic cell division and can differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types.
Germ cell - Gametes and gonocytes, these are often .
Germ cells should not be confused with "germs" (pathogens).
Somatic cell - any cells forming the body of an organism, as opposed to germline cells.  
 vs. callus.
Despite that callus exhibits a number of stem cell-like properties for a temporary period and that it has been cultured for useful plant compounds as an alternative source of plant stem cell, callus and plant stem cell are fundamentally different from each other.
Callus is similar to plant stem cell in its ability to differentiate, but the two are different in their origin.
While plant stem cell exists in the meristematic tissues of plant, callus is obtained as a temporary response to cure wound in somatic cell.
Moreover callus undergoes dedifferentiation as differentiated cells acquire ability to differentiate; but genetic variation is inevitable in the process because the cells consist of somatic undifferentiated cells from an adult subject plant.
Unlike true stem cells, callus is heterogeneous.
Due to this reason, continuous and stable cell division of callus is difficult.
Hence plant stem cell originated from cambium is an immortal cell while callus is a temporary dediffertiated cell obtained from stimulating the somatic cell.
Furthermore, the ability to differentiate and proliferate is different that differences between plant stem cell and callus are prevalent in culture and research.
Only plant stem cells embedded in meristems can divide and give rise to cells that differentiate while giving rise to new stem cells.
These immortal cells divide infinitely. 
In mammals, DNA methylation plays a role in regulating a key component of multipotency—the ability to rapidly self-renew.
Khavari et al.
discussed the fundamental mechanisms of DNA methylation and the interaction with several pathways regulating differentiation.
New approaches studying the genomic status of DNA methylation in various states of differentiation have shown that methylation at CpG sites associated with putative enhancers are important in this process.
DNA methylation can modulate the binding affinities of transcription factors by recruiting repressors such as "MeCP2" which display binding specificity for sequences containing methylated CpG dinucleotides.
DNA methylation is controlled by certain methyltransferases, "DMNTs", which perform different functions depending on each one.
"DNMT3A" and "DNMT3B" have both been linked to a role in the establishment of DNA methylation pattern in the early development of the stem cell, whereas "DNMT1" is required to methylate a newly synthesized strand of DNA after the cell has undergone replication in order to sustain the epigenetic regulatory state.
Numerous proteins can physically interact with "DNMTs" themselves, which help target "DNMT1" to hemi-methylated DNA.
Several new studies point to the central role of DNA methylation interacting with the regulation of cell cycles and DNA repair pathways in order to maintain the undifferentiated state.
In embryonic stem cells, "DNMT1" depletion within the undifferentiated progenitor cell compartment led to cell cycle arrest, premature differentiation and a failure of tissue self-renewal.
The loss of "DNMT1" occurred from profound effects associated with activation of differentiation genes and loss of genes promoting cell cycle progression, thus indicating that "DNMT1" and other "DNMTs" do not continuously suppress differentiation and thus maintain the pluripotent state.
These studies point to the important of the interaction of DNMTs in order to maintain stem cell states allowing for further differentiation and formation of heterochromatin to occur.