Exogenous steroid hormones stimulate full development of autonomous endosperm in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

Most flowering plants, including important crops, require double fertilization to form an embryo and endosperm, which nourishes it. Independence from fertilization is a feature of apomictic plants that produce seeds, from which the plants that are clones of the mother plant arise. The phenomenon of apomixis occurs in some sexual plants under specific circumstances. Since the launch of a fertilization-independent mechanism is considered a useful tool for plant breeding, there have been efforts to artificially induce apomixis. We have been able to produce fertilization-independent endosperm in vitro in Arabidopsis over the last few years. This paper demonstrates the methods of improving the quality of the endosperm obtained using plant and mammalian steroid hormones. Additionally, it shows the study on the autonomous endosperm (AE) formation mechanism in vitro.This paper examines the effect of exogenous steroid hormones on unfertilized egg and central cell divisions in culture of unpollinated pistils of Arabidopsis Col-0 wild-type and fie-1 mutant. All media with hormones used (estrone, androsterone, progesterone, and epibrassinolide) stimulated central cell divisions and fertilization-independent endosperm development. The stages of AE development followed the pattern of Arabidopsis thaliana wild type after fertilization. Subsequent stages of AE were observed from 2-nuclear up to cellular with the most advanced occurring on medium with 24-epibrassinolide and progesterone. The significant influence of mammalian sex hormones on speed of AE development and differentiation was noticed. Using restriction analysis, the changes in methylation of FIE gene was established under in vitro condition. The authors of this paper showed that Arabidopsis thaliana has a high potency to fertilization-independent development.

Effects of 17<i>β</i>-Estradiol on Growth, Primary Metabolism, Phenylpropanoid-Flavonoid Pathways and Pathogen Resistance in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>

“…Application of selected estrogens on Arabidopsis plants grown on artificial medium [15], winter wheat [33], sage (Salvia splendens) [34] and chicory (Cichorium intybus) [14] was found to stimulate flowering. More recently, it was reported that in vitro culture of unpollinated Arabidopsis pistils on media supplemented with estrone and progesterone resulted in the development of autonomous endosperm [35].…”

The steps from sexual reproduction to apomixis

“…At the same time, the role of plant hormones in promoting the differentiation of adventitious buds has been elucidated through tissue culture techniques. Under the stimulation of exogenous steroid hormones (estrone, androsterone, progesterone and epibrassinolide), Arabidopsis thaliana can complete the development of endosperm without fertilization (Rojek et al 2015). So it can be inferred that hormones also play important roles in the apomixis.…”

“…Some families naturally show particularly high frequencies of apomixis, examples are: Poaceae (Sharma et al 2014;Boldrini et al 2006;Hojsgaard et al 2008;Albertini et al 2005;Niemann et al 2012), Asteraceae (Whitton et al 2008;Hand et al 2015), Rosaceae (DOBEŠ et al 2015;Burgess et al 2014) and Melastomataceae (Mendes-Rodrigues and Oliveira 2012; Maia et al 2016). In 1986, Richards counted known apomictic species, finding more than 300 taxa, distributed over 35 families (Richards 1986). Today, according to incomplete statistics, plants found to have apomictic reproductive ability exceed 400 genera (Grimanelli et al 2003;Koltunow and Grossniklaus 2003).…”

Establishing the cell biology of apomictic reproduction in diploid Boechera stricta (Brassicaceae)

“…For example, mutation of the POLYCOMB REPRESSIVE COMPLEX 2 ( PRC-2 ) genes in Arabidopsis confers a degree of haploid embryo development ( Guitton and Berger, 2005 ) and/or autonomous endosperm development ( Ohad et al ., 1996 , 1999 ; Kiyosue et al , 1999 ; Luo et al , 1999 ; Vinkenoog and Scott, 2001 ). Autonomous endosperm can also be induced in wild Arabidopsis genotypes and other taxa within the Brassicaceae using chemical agents in vitro ( Rojek et al ., 2005 , 2013 , 2015 ; Kapusta et al , 2007 ; Figueiredo et al , 2015 ).…”