How Plants Pattern the Tissues That Produce Seeds
Professor Elena Shpak’s lab is advancing fundamental knowledge of plant growth and development, with a new study centered on signaling proteins.
Many of the world’s staple crops, including wheat, rice, and corn, are grown for their seeds. Before a plant can produce seeds, it must first form ovules, which develop into seeds after fertilization. A single flower can produce one or dozens of ovules, each precisely positioned to ensure successful development. Ovules arise from a specialized tissue inside the flower called the placenta. But how do placental cells know whether they should become an ovule or remain part of the surrounding tissue? What determines how many ovules a placenta produces? Answering these questions requires understanding how neighboring cells communicate to establish distinct identities during development.
In a recent study published in The Plant Cell, the Shpak Lab uncovered an important part of the answer using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The researchers discovered that two small signaling proteins, EPFL1 and EPFL2, act as molecular coordinators that reinforce the identities of neighboring cells as ovules begin to form. These signals help separate the ovule founder cells from the surrounding boundary cells while promoting the growth of the intervening tissues. EPFL1 and EPFL2 regulate ovule number while ensuring that developing ovules remain properly connected to the placenta.
This work reveals a previously unknown mechanism by which cell-to-cell signaling patterns reproductive tissues during plant development. More broadly, it demonstrates how communication between neighboring cells establishes distinct cell identities while coordinating organ growth—a fundamental process shared throughout plant development.
Because the number and arrangement of ovules ultimately determine the number of seeds a flower can produce, these findings also provide a foundation for future efforts to improve seed production in crop plants.
