The Polycomb group (PcG) chromatin remodelling proteins have conserved roles in the stable maintenance of gene expression patterns. In Arabidopsis, mutations in the genes of the FERTILIZATION INDEPENDENT SEED (FIS) PcG complex cause seed abortion when maternally inherited. In the case of two FIS-class gene mutations, seed abortion occurs because these genes(MEA and FIS2) are paternally imprinted in the endosperm. On p. 3639, Leroy and colleagues now report that the FIS gene MSI1 is not similarly imprinted; MSI1 is bi-allelically expressed in the embryo and endosperm, and its early paternal expression does not rescue msi1mutant seeds. By contrast, its expression in msi1 mutant female gametophytes (which enclose the female gamete) does restore seed development. From their findings, the authors conclude that an intact FIS complex is required in the female gametophyte to maintain normal gene expression patterns in the central cell (from which the endosperm develops). In its absence,endosperm defects occur that cause both embryo arrest and seed abortion.
FIS Polycomb protein functions take seed
FIS Polycomb protein functions take seed. Development 15 October 2007; 134 (20): e2002. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
Call for papers: Uncovering Developmental Diversity
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue: Uncovering Developmental Diversity. This issue will be coordinated by our academic Editor Cassandra Extavour (Harvard University, USA) alongside two Guest Editors: Liam Dolan (Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austria) and Karen Sears (University of California Los Angeles, USA).
Choose Development in 2024
In this Editorial, Development Editor-in-Chief James Briscoe and Executive Editor Katherine Brown explain how you support your community by publishing in Development and how the journal champions serious science, community connections and progressive publishing.
Journal Meeting: From Stem Cells to Human Development
Register now for the 2024 Development Journal Meeting From Stem Cells to Human Development. Early-bird registration deadline: 3 May. Abstract submission deadline: 21 June.
Pluripotency of a founding field: rebranding developmental biology
This collaborative Perspective, the result of a workshop held in 2023, proposes a set of community actions to increase the visibility of the developmental biology field. The authors make recommendations for new funding streams, frameworks for collaborations and mechanisms by which members of the community can promote themselves and their research.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say
We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.