Plant embryogenesis articles from across Nature Portfolio

Wu et al. show that mutations of the Polycomb repressive complex 2 gene, OsFIE2, result in asexual embryo formation in rice, suggesting a critical role of the epigenetic regulation in maintaining the quiescent state of the egg apparatus.

Ali and Shin et al. have characterized the cellular dynamics of coenocytic endosperm development in Arabidopsis thaliana. They demonstrate the role of actin filaments in controlling the final seed size.

Previously, a proof-of-concept for low frequency synthetic apomixis was established in a laboratory strain of rice by combining MiMe mutations with the egg cell expression of the embryogenic trigger - BBM1. Here, the authors achieve clonal seed formation in hybrid rice with almost full penetrance and higher fertility.

An integrated genomic and transcriptomic analysis of progeny from reciprocal crosses between tetraploid and hexaploid wheat species reveals parental contributions to gene expression during various stages of seed development.

Arabidopsis embryonic root development involves the formation of distinct cell types and tissues in a tightly regulated and thereby highly predictable spatio-temporal manner. A crosstalk between maternal and embryonic genes orchestrates division orientation and fate specification to control root development.

Mothers and fathers contribute equally to the early embryonic transcriptome in plants, but the full extent of parental control of embryogenesis is unknown. Now it has been reported that expression of parental alleles can vary across cell types.

Major life cycle transitions happen after changes in stem cells trigger new developmental programs. In moss, expression of the homeobox transcription factor BELL1 is sufficient to induce sporophyte stem cells from the gametophyte phase, without having to go through fertilization.

Plant researchers have speculated about the need for mechanisms to lock-down cell fate in late development. In PRC2 mutants, specialized, endoreplicated root hair cells differentiate normally but later revert to an embryo-like state.