Arabidopsis seed mucilage secretory cells

Edith Francoz (1, 2) , Philippe Ranocha (3, 2) , Vincent Burlat (3, 1, 2) , Christophe Dunand (3, 1, 2)

1 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
2 LRSV - Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales
3 Dynamique et Evolution des Parois cellulaires végétales

Seeds from various angiosperm species produce polysaccharide mucilage facilitating germination and, therefore, conferring major evolutionary advantages. The seed epidermal mucilage secretory cells (MSCs) undergo numerous tightly controlled changes of their extracellular matrixes (ECMs) throughout seed development. Recently, major progress based on the model species Arabidopsis thaliana was published, including the identification of 54 genes necessary for mucilage synthesis and release. Here, we review these genes that constitute the so-called ‘MSC toolbox’, within which transcription factors and proteins related to polysaccharide production, secretion, modification, and stabilization are the most abundant and belong to complex regulatory networks. We also discuss how seed coat ‘omics data-mining, comparative genomics, and operon-like gene cluster studies will provide means to identify new members of the MSC toolbox.

Mots clés: seed mucilage secretory cells; Arabidopsis; Cell wall dynamics; Polysaccharides; Pectins; Co-expression networks

Domaines: Biologie végétale

Edith Francoz, Philippe Ranocha, Vincent Burlat, Christophe Dunand. Arabidopsis seed mucilage secretory cells: regulation and dynamics. Trends in Plant Science, 2015, 20 (8), pp.515-524. ⟨10.1016/j.tplants.2015.04.008⟩. ⟨hal-03615907⟩