Seeds run on a father-mother gene tug-of-war
Budinsky, T.; Kovacik, M.; Cermak, V.; Pribylova, A.; Salony, S.; Iltas, O.; Pecinka, A.; Lafon Placette, C.
Plant Signaling
Every seed a gardener plants started as a negotiation between its mother and father plant over how much food to pack inside it, and this research shows the genetic referees involved.
In many plants, some genes in a developing seed only turn on if they came from the mom or only if they came from the dad, a phenomenon called genomic imprinting. Researchers studied this in a wild relative of the mustard family and found that dad's genes tend to team up and push for more seed resources, while mom's genes act more evenhandedly, balancing things out. One gene in particular, NRPE1, works like a central switchboard connecting these parental influences during seed formation.
Key Findings
Genomic imprinting in Arabidopsis arenosa endosperm affects only a limited set of biological pathways, pointing to specific dosage-sensitive processes
The gene NRPE1 acts as a network hub, linking epigenetic regulation to endosperm development
Paternally expressed genes mainly reinforce other paternal genes, while maternally expressed genes regulate both paternal and maternal genes, consistent with a self-promoting paternal strategy versus a maternal buffering strategy
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists mapped which genes in a wild mustard plant's seeds are switched on only when inherited from the father versus the mother, revealing that seeds carry a built-in genetic tug-of-war between parents that shapes how they grow.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Imprinted regulatory networks reveal the molecular cross-talk between paternal and maternal genomes in the endosperm of Arabidopsis arenosa
Summary paragraphImprinted genes do not act alone to shape seed development, but as a complex network -- just like any other gene. Yet, the molecular context in which they are embedded, i.e. their ...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Arabidopsis arenosa, the sand rock-cress, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is found mostly in Central Europe in both a diploid and an autotetraploid form. This sets it apart from the other, mostly diploid, Arabidopsis species including the closely related Arabidopsis...