First published online September 2, 2003
Development 130, e2006 (2003)
Copyright © 2003 The Company of Biologists Limited
Cell-fate specification in plants and animals converge
Results obtained by Costa et al. in a new study of a maize mutation
indicate that some of the mechanisms that determine cell fate during animal
development also act in some plants (see
p. 5009). The
recessive lethal mutation globby1-1 (glo1-1) is
characterised by an aberrant globular embryo and endosperm morphology. In
their detailed developmental analysis of glo1-1 mutant seeds, Costa
and co-workers report that embryonic pattern formation is impaired, and that
glo1-1 mutants have aberrant nuclear and cell proliferation in the
early syncytial endosperm and cellular endosperm, respectively. Local
disruptions in the organisation of the basal endosperm transfer layer (BETL)
that followed on from these early abnormalities, they suggest, occurred
because BETL cells differentiate in a lineage-dependent manner – a
common mechanism for cell-fate specification in animals such as
Drosophila that is, however, rare in plants.
Related articles in Development:
- The globby1-1 (glo1-1) mutation disrupts nuclear and cell division in the developing maize seed causing alterations in endosperm cell fate and tissue differentiation
- Liliana M. Costa, Jose F. Gutierrez-Marcos, Thomas P. Brutnell, Andrew J. Greenland, and Hugh G. Dickinson
Development 2003 130: 5009-5017.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
