雌配子成熟与功能特化的调控机理是植物有性生殖领域的核心研究问题之一，长期为学者所关注。然因其众所周知的研究难度，有关机理至今仍鲜为人知。本课题组先前在拟南芥中发现了首个植物卵细胞成熟因子GCD1（GAMETE CELL DEFECTIVE 1），其功能缺陷导致卵细胞不能发育成熟，该卵细胞虽可受精，但所产生的合子未能启动胚胎发生。通过分析比较成熟与未成熟卵细胞的转录组，我们获得一个卵细胞特异蛋白ECP1（EGG CELL PORTEIN 1），其表达始于刚完成细胞化的早期卵细胞，并维持至早期合子阶段。生物信息学分析显示ECP1具有修饰蛋白的功能，因此我们推测该因子可能参与了卵细胞成熟过程中某种关键母本信号的产生，进而影响卵细胞功能特化及随后的受精与胚胎发生启动。希望基于ECP1的研究，能深化我们对卵细胞成熟与功能特化机制的认识，在该领域取得新的突破。

The molecular mechanism regulating plant egg cell maturation and functional specialization is one of the core questions in the field of sexual plant reproduction and has been paid great attention by researchers. Regrettably, restricted by difficult technical bottlenecks, relevant molecular mechanism still remains a mystery. In our previous work, GAMETE CELL DEFECTIVE 1 (GCD1), the first plant egg cell maturation factor was found. GCD1 dysfunction resulted in the formation of an immature egg cell, which could be normally fertilized but consequent zygote could not be triggered for embryogenesis. Based on the comparative transcriptome analysis between mature and immature egg cells, we obtained an egg cell specific protein EGG CELL PORTEIN 1 (ECP1), which only expressed from the early egg cell to the early zygote stage. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that ECP1 could modify proteins, thus we suspect that ECP1 participates in the generation of certain maternal signal during the egg cell maturation process, which affects the functional specialization of egg cell and following fertilization and embryogenesis. Via the regulatory pathway analysis of ECP1 we hope to deepen our understanding of the molecular mechanism triggering egg cell maturation and functional specialization in angiosperm.