Epigenetics of Plant Developmental Transitions - Repressors of the Embryonic Program

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Seeds are economicaly the most important end product in plant agriculture. The improvement of seed quality requires a thorough understanding of seed development, particularly in the later phase of seed maturation, when storage reserves such as proteins, starches, lipids and other nutrients are being synthesized and accumulated. Seed storage protein (SSP) genes have long been considered as molecular markers for the study of seed maturation and as a model system for the investigation of the control of tissue specific gene expression. A few genes are known as master regulators of seed maturation including of SSPs, but present knowledge on these genes' regulation and interaction with their targets is still fragmented. We have already performed a genetic screen in Arabidopsis (a model plant for molecular biology research) to look for genes that regulate the expression of SSPs. In one screen, we identified mutants where seed maturation genes are ectopically expressed in leaves. The identities of these genes underlying the mutant phenotypes have been revealed: they are mostly epigenetic regulators that regulate gene expression by modifying the structure of chromatin. The research proposed here is based on our previous work and continues to search for and characterize the genetic and epigenetic network that controls the expression of the seed maturation program. This work, when completed, will enrich and broaden our knowledge on gene expression regulation during plant seed and vegetative development. Since the seed maturation program is an evolutionarily conserved developmental program, the knowledge gained from the model plant Arabidopsis can easily be transferred to dicotyledonous crops, such as canola, soybean and common bean, and will ultimately contribute to seed quality improvement in the future.