The endosperm transcriptome as a stepping-stone to identifying new imprinted genes in plants

摘要

Seed development begins with double fertilisation where the egg cell and the central cell are both fertilised by sperm cells contributed from a single pollen grain. This generates the embryo and the endosperm, respectively. Laser capture microdissection has enabled high-resolution transcript analysis of the proliferative stage of Arabidopsis endosperm development and has provided novel insight into early seed development. The list of endosperm-preferred genes also provides a stepping-stone for the identification of new imprinted genes in plants.