Development and functions of seed transfer cells

Thompson, Richard; Hueros, Gregorio; Becker, Heinz-Albert; Maitz, Monika

doi:10.1016/s0168-9452(01)00345-4

Cited by 143 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…We therefore tentatively conclude that transfer cells require interaction from maternal tissues to develop. This conclusion is in line with previous suggestions that maternal signaling plays a role in initiating transfer cell development after fertilization (Thompson et al, 2001;Gomez et al, 2002;Costa et al, 2003;for review, see Olsen, 2004b). The exact role of maternal tissues in transfer cell development remains to be determined, but one possibility deserves special mention.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Surface Position, Not Signaling from Surrounding Maternal Tissues, Specifies Aleurone Epidermal Cell Fate in Maize

et al. 2006

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Maize (Zea mays) endosperm consists of an epidermal-like surface layer of aleurone cells, an underlying body of starchy endosperm cells, and a basal layer of transfer cells. To determine whether surrounding maternal tissues perform a role in specifying endosperm cell fates, a maize endosperm organ culture technique was established whereby the developing endosperm is completely removed from surrounding maternal tissues. Using cell type-specific fluorescence markers, we show that aleurone cell fate specification occurs exclusively in response to surface position and does not require specific, continued maternal signal input. The starchy endosperm and aleurone cell fates are freely interchangeable throughout the lifespan of the endosperm, with internalized aleurone cells converting to starchy endosperm cells and with starchy endosperm cells that become positioned at the surface converting to aleurone cells. In contrast to aleurone and starchy endosperm cells, transfer cells fail to develop in in vitrogrown endosperm, supporting earlier indications that maternal tissue interaction is required to fully differentiate this cell type. Several parameters confirm that the maize endosperm organ cultures described herein retain the main developmental features of in planta endosperm, including fidelity of aleurone mutant phenotypes, temporal and spatial control of cell type-specific fluorescent markers, specificity of cell type transcripts, and control of mitotic cell divisions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Surface Position, Not Signaling from Surrounding Maternal Tissues, Specifies Aleurone Epidermal Cell Fate in Maize

et al. 2006

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“…Transfer of nutrients from the mother plant to the endosperm that stores reserves involves the specialized placentochalazal tissue of seed integument and the transfer layer in the endosperm (Thompson et al, 2001). Mutants affected for the development of the placentochalazal tissue show defects in seed growth (Felker et al, 1985;Cheng et al, 1996;Maitz et al, 2000).…”

Section: Seed Size Restriction In Iku Results From Impaired Communicamentioning

confidence: 99%

Arabidopsis haiku Mutants Reveal New Controls of Seed Size by Endosperm

et al. 2003

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In flowering plants, maternal seed integument encloses the embryo and the endosperm, which are both derived from double fertilization. Although the development of these three components must be coordinated, we have limited knowledge of mechanisms involved in such coordination. The endosperm may play a central role in these mechanisms as epigenetic modifications of endosperm development, via imbalance of dosage between maternal and paternal genomes, affecting both the embryo and the integument. To identify targets of such epigenetic controls, we designed a genetic screen in Arabidopsis for mutants that phenocopy the effects of dosage imbalance in the endosperm. The two mutants haiku 1 and haiku 2 produce seed of reduced size that resemble seed with maternal excess in the maternal/paternal dosage. Homozygous haiku seed develop into plants indistinguishable from wild type. Each mutation is sporophytic recessive, and double-mutant analysis suggests that both mutations affect the same genetic pathway. The endosperm of haiku mutants shows a premature arrest of increase in size that causes precocious cellularization of the syncytial endosperm. Reduction of seed size in haiku results from coordinated reduction of endosperm size, embryo proliferation, and cell elongation of the maternally derived integument. We present further evidence for a control of integument development mediated by endosperm-derived signals.In flowering plants, the two female gametes, the egg cell and the central cell, are fertilized by one of the two male gametes delivered by the pollen tube. The zygotic product of the fusion of one male gamete with the egg cell develops into the embryo of the daughter plant. The fertilized central cell develops as the endosperm that nurtures embryo development. In most species, endosperm development is initiated by a proliferative syncytial phase accompanied by cell growth that generates a large multinucleate cell (Olsen, 2001; Berger, 2003). This syncytium is partitioned into individual cells by a specific type of cytokinesis called cellularization. In cereal species, the cellular endosperm stores the reserves of the seed during a phase marked by endoreduplication. Although the endosperm does not store the reserves of the seed in Arabidopsis, it most probably controls the flux of nutrients delivered by the vascular tissue of the mother to the embryo and protects the embryo from physical and osmotic stresses.Because the embryo is surrounded by the endosperm, which, in turn, is enclosed within the ovule integument, these three structures must coordinate their development to produce a mature seed of the appropriate size. The endosperm plays a central role in the control of seed size as indicated by a series of experiments in Arabidopsis and maize (Zea mays), where the dosage balance between maternal and paternal genomes was perturbed (Lin, 1984;Kermicle and Allemand, 1990;Scott et al., 1998). In most flowering plants, the endosperm contains two maternal copies and one paternal copy of the genome (2m/1p). In Arabidop...

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“…Monjardino et al (2007) observed maize endosperm cellularization (also using kernels embedded in plastic resin) and described unorganized alveoli that rapidly formed cells in the central vacuole during late cellularization, which corresponds with our description of partitioning. The large, irregular cells formed during partitioning may help explain how the large and uniquely shaped maize In maize, cells that exhibit transfer cell morphology include the single basal layer directly above the chalazal pad, and the adjacent 3-4 cell layers that contain a gradient of ingrowths decreasing toward the interior of the endosperm ( Kiesselbach and Walker, 1952 ;Schel et al, 1984 ;Davis et al, 1990 ;Gao et al, 1998 ;Thompson et al, 2001 ;Monjardino et al, 2013 ). Most authors identify the single layer of transfer cells directly above the chalazal pad as being morphologically distinct, often referred to as the BETL.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maize early endosperm growth and development: From fertilization through cell type differentiation

Leroux

Goodyke

Schumacher

et al. 2014

American J of Botany

100

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• Premise of the study: Given the worldwide economic importance of maize endosperm, it is surprising that its development is not the most comprehensively studied of the cereals. We present detailed morphometric and cytological descriptions of endosperm development in the maize inbred line B73, for which the genome has been sequenced, and compare its growth with four diverse Nested Association Mapping (NAM) founder lines.• Methods: The fi rst 12 d of B73 endosperm development were described using semithin sections of plastic-embedded kernels and confocal microscopy. Longitudinal sections were used to compare endosperm length, thickness, and area.• Key results: Morphometric comparison between Arizona-and Michigan-grown B73 showed a common pattern. Early endosperm development was divided into four stages: coenocytic, cellularization through alveolation, cellularization through partitioning, and differentiation. We observed tightly synchronous nuclear divisions in the coenocyte, elucidated that the onset of cellularization was coincident with endosperm size, and identifi ed a previously undefi ned cell type (basal intermediate zone, BIZ). NAM founders with small mature kernels had larger endosperms (0-6 d after pollination) than lines with large mature kernels.• Conclusions: Our B73-specifi c model of early endosperm growth links developmental events to relative endosperm size, while accounting for diverse growing conditions. Maize endosperm cellularizes through alveolation, then random partitioning of the central vacuole. This unique cellularization feature of maize contrasts with the smaller endosperms of Arabidopsis , barley, and rice that strictly cellularize through repeated alveolation. NAM analysis revealed differences in endosperm size during early development, which potentially relates to differences in timing of cellularization across diverse lines of maize.

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Development and functions of seed transfer cells

Cited by 143 publications

References 43 publications

Surface Position, Not Signaling from Surrounding Maternal Tissues, Specifies Aleurone Epidermal Cell Fate in Maize

Surface Position, Not Signaling from Surrounding Maternal Tissues, Specifies Aleurone Epidermal Cell Fate in Maize

Arabidopsis haiku Mutants Reveal New Controls of Seed Size by Endosperm

Maize early endosperm growth and development: From fertilization through cell type differentiation

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