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Molecular Biology of Plant Seed Development
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Molecular Biology of Plant Seed Development

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 5622

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Weibin Song

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: maize breeding; genetics; genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Seed is one of the best focused organs, and is of great economic importance because of its role in feed, food and biofuel production. A developing seed involves three genetically distinct structures: the endosperm, the embryo, and the seed coat. The endosperm mainly contains starch and a few proteins providing nutrients for developing embryo. The embryo mainly contains oil and proteins with five major components including the shoot apical meristem, hypocotyl, root meristem, root cap, and cotyledons. Seed coat, the outer layer of a seed, provides protection for the endosperm and embryo from various forms of harm. These three structures were derived from fertilization, as well as apomixis or asexual reproduction. Many efforts have been made by scientists worldwide in improving seed size and quality, making seed a basic nutrient resource and a functional food for humans and livestock. It is, therefore, not surprising that more and more studies have been performed on uncovering the genetic regulation processes during seed development. Nevertheless, there are still lots of scientific concerns underlying the seed development need to be investigated. For example, the interactions among the embryo, endosperm and seed coat, as well as regulatory networks involved in seed filling and development.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to report on topics relate but not limited to recent and innovative findings regarding different aspects of plant seed, mainly focusing on molecular mechanisms regulating seed size, seed shape, and seed composition. Accordingly, we aim to collect original research manuscripts including: 1) functional investigations on new regulators and mechanisms of seed size or shape or seed components; 2) signal communications among endosperm, embryo, and seed coat; 3) bioinformatics methods elucidating the regulatory networks underlying seed development.

Dr. Weibin Song
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • regulatory mechanisms
  • transcription factors
  • epigenome regulators
  • signal communications
  • plant seed
  • seed size
  • seed shape
  • seed quality

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2446 KiB  
Article
The B-Type Cyclin CYCB1-1 Regulates Embryonic Development and Seed Size in Maize
by Bingbing Zhao, Miaoyi Zhou, Wen Ren, Hanshuai Li, Qian Zhang, Guangming He, Ya Liu and Haohua He
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(11), 5907; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23115907 - 25 May 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1840
Abstract
Progress through the cell cycle is a critical process during plant embryo and seed development and its progression is regulated by cyclins. Despite extensive study of cyclins in other systems, their role in embryo and seed development of maize is unclear. In this [...] Read more.
Progress through the cell cycle is a critical process during plant embryo and seed development and its progression is regulated by cyclins. Despite extensive study of cyclins in other systems, their role in embryo and seed development of maize is unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that ZmCYCB1-1 overexpression significantly accelerated embryo growth and increased seed size. In situ hybridization and toluidine blue staining indicated that ZmCYCB1-1 was highly expressed in the plumule of embryos, and the cells of the plumule were smaller, denser, and more regularly arranged in ZmCYCB1-1 overexpression plants. Overexpression of ZmCYCB1-1 in maize also resulted in an increased ear length and enhanced kernel weight by increasing kernel width. Transcriptome analysis indicated that the overexpression of ZmCYCB1-1 affected several different metabolic pathways, including photosynthesis in embryos and leaves, and lipid metabolism in leaves. Conversely, knocking out ZmCYCB1-1 resulted in plants with slow growth. Our results suggest that ZmCYCB1-1 regulates embryo growth and seed size, making it an ideal target for efforts aimed at maize yield improvement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Biology of Plant Seed Development)
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17 pages, 3233 KiB  
Article
Maize PPR278 Functions in Mitochondrial RNA Splicing and Editing
by Jing Yang, Yang Cui, Xiangbo Zhang, Zhijia Yang, Jinsheng Lai, Weibin Song, Jingang Liang and Xinhai Li
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(6), 3035; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23063035 - 11 Mar 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1834
Abstract
Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins are a large protein family in higher plants and play important roles during seed development. Most reported PPR proteins function in mitochondria. However, some PPR proteins localize to more than one organelle; functional characterization of these proteins remains limited [...] Read more.
Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins are a large protein family in higher plants and play important roles during seed development. Most reported PPR proteins function in mitochondria. However, some PPR proteins localize to more than one organelle; functional characterization of these proteins remains limited in maize (Zea mays L.). Here, we cloned and analyzed the function of a P-subfamily PPR protein, PPR278. Loss-function of PPR278 led to a lower germination rate and other defects at the seedling stage, as well as smaller kernels compared to the wild type. PPR278 was expressed in all investigated tissues. Furthermore, we determined that PPR278 is involved in the splicing of two mitochondrial transcripts (nad2 intron 4 and nad5 introns 1 and 4), as well as RNA editing of C-to-U sites in 10 mitochondrial transcripts. PPR278 localized to the nucleus, implying that it may function as a transcriptional regulator during seed development. Our data indicate that PPR278 is involved in maize seed development via intron splicing and RNA editing in mitochondria and has potential regulatory roles in the nucleus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Biology of Plant Seed Development)
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14 pages, 42445 KiB  
Article
How Cysteine Protease Gene PtCP5 Affects Seed Germination by Mobilizing Storage Proteins in Populus trichocarpa
by Xiatong Liu, Lijie Mo, Xiaorui Guo, Qiang Zhang, Hui Li, Di Liu and Hai Lu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(23), 12637; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms222312637 - 23 Nov 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1390
Abstract
In higher plants, seed storage proteins are deposited in protein storage vacuoles (PSVs) and degraded by protease, especially cysteine proteases, as a source of nitrogen for seed germination. In this study, a cathepsin B-like cysteine protease PtCP5, which is important for seed germination [...] Read more.
In higher plants, seed storage proteins are deposited in protein storage vacuoles (PSVs) and degraded by protease, especially cysteine proteases, as a source of nitrogen for seed germination. In this study, a cathepsin B-like cysteine protease PtCP5, which is important for seed germination and pollen development, was first cloned in Populus trichocarpa. The GUS staining of the ProPtCP5-GUS reporter line showed that PtCP5 is expressed in the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, siliques and seeds of Arabidopsis. We reveal that PtCP5 is present in plasma membrane and co-localizes with the plasma membrane marker REM1.3. Both seed germination and early seedling development are slower in OX-PtCP5 transgenic Arabidopsis when compared with the wild-type. Further analysis revealed that, when stained with toluidine blue, the observed storage protein accumulation was lower in OX-PtCP5 than in the wild-type. Our results also show that the number of abnormal pollen grains is higher and the germination rate of pollen is lower in OX-PtCP5 than in the wild-type. These results indicate that PtCP5 is an important factor in mobilizing storage proteins and that the proper expression of PtCP5 is necessary for both pollen and seed maturation and germination. This study sheds further light on the biological functions of cysteine proteases and provides further reference for seed development research on woody plants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Biology of Plant Seed Development)
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