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IS-AUR-Samarb.progr. Norge Frankrike

Genomic dissection of seed development

Awarded: NOK 97,853

Parent of origin dependent expression plays an important role in seed development of flowering plants, and disruption of imprinted genes typically leads to developmental abnormalities often resulting in abortion of the seed. We have used a mutant in the A rabidopsis Cdc2/CDC28 homologue, CDKA;1 as a tool to dissect the involvement of parental gene programs in seed development. Plants fertilized with cdka;1 mutant pollen develop viable seeds with an uniparental endosperm, given the mother is mutant for any of the FIS genes that encode Polycomb group (PcG) chromatin remodeling factors. This suggests that the action of the PcG FIS-complex balances the contribution of the paternal genome. In order to identify further factors involved in cross talk between the components of the seed and parent epigenetic regulation of seed development, we have generated microarray transcriptional profiles of seeds with uniparental endosperm. In our preparatory work we have identified several candidate genes that that are differ entially expressed in mutant and wild-type seeds and are likely to represent key regulators of seed development. Here we will follow up this joint project and together characterize these genes with the overall aim to understand seed growth and development in flowering plants. This work involves detailed expression studies and the identification of possible interactors leading to an understanding of the molecular network and the regulatory circuitry underlying seed growth and development. Moreover, we will follow a comparative approach and test to what extend the identified patterns of gene expression in Arabidopsis as a member of the eudicot branch are conserved in Brachypodium as an emerging model system for agronomical important grass species. With this and an established collaboration with a group working on rice seed development we follow a translational research strategy aiming at application of our results in plant breeding programs.

Funding scheme:

IS-AUR-Samarb.progr. Norge Frankrike