Seed Development Transporting into the Post-aenomic Era

摘要

Seed development represents a critical stage in the plant life cycle and is of prime economic and agronomic importance, affecting both crop yield and nutritional quality. The recent availability of sequenced plant genomes and tagged or insertional mutant collections has been accompanied by the application of new technologies for high-throughput analysis of genes, proteins and metabolites and advances in methodologies such as the spatial imaging of metabolites. These approaches now allow us to dissectthe complex networks of developmental and metabolic processes in model plant species, such as Ambidopsis (Ambidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.), and crop species. Consequently, our fundamental knowledge and understanding of the key developmental events and metabolic pathways that underlie seed development has significantly increased. In addition, we are now becoming aware of the importance of epigenetic control of seed development and nutrient regulation of seed storage reserve deposition. Recent progress and future perspectives relating to seed development will be reviewed in the context of these rapidly emerging methodologies using specific examples to highlight their usefulness and potential.