Seed Development

Personnel du RDP

Gwyneth INGRAM

gwyneth.ingram
(33) 4 72 72 86 01
DR CNRS
Publications

Thomas WIDIEZ

thomas.widiez
(33) 4 72 72 86 08
DR INRAE
Publications

Nathalie DEPEGE-FARGEIX

Nathalie.Depege
(33) 4 72 72 89 85
MC UCBL
Publications

Peter ROGOWSKY

Peter.Rogowsky
(33) 4 72 72 86 07
DR INRAE
Publications

Benoit LANDREIN

benoit.landrein
(33) 4 72 72 86 02
CR CNRS
Publications

Emilie MONTES

emilie.montes
(33) 4 72 72 86 07
TR INRAE

Simone BOVIO

simone.bovio
(33) 4 72 72 87 62
IE ENS
Publications

Audrey CREFF

audrey.creff
(33) 4 72 72 89 85
IE CNRS
Publications

Andrea CALHAU

andrea.calhau
(33) 4 72 72 86 12
IE INRAE

Sophy BOEUF

sophy.boeuf
(33) 4 26 73 14 76
TC CNRS

Chloé PLAGNARD

chloe.plagnard
(33) 4 72 72 86 10
AI INRAE

Amélie BAUER

amelie.bauer
(33) 4 XX XX XX XX
Thèse

Camille BIED

camille.bied
(33) 4 26 73 14 72
Thèse

Yannick FIERLEJ

Yannick.Fierlej
(33)4 72 72 86 11
Post-Doc

Eduardo BERENGUER PEINADON

eduardo.beenguer_peinado
8614
Post doc

Jekaterina TRUSKINA

jekaterina.truskina
Post doc CNRS

Joan RENARD MESEGUER

joan.renard_mesegue
(33) 4 26 23 39 59
Postdoc

Laura GONZALEZ

laura.gonzalez
Doctorante






The team aims to decipher mechanisms that govern seed development in the model plant Arabidopsis and the crop plant maize.


Current Projects

 Communication between seed compartments
 Haploid embryo induction
 Mechanics of seed development
 Gene Editing & Maize transformation

Communication between seed compartments

Leaders: Gwyneth INGRAM & Nathalie DEPEGE-FARGEIX (Arabidopsis) / Thomas WIDIEZ (maize)

Seeds are complex biological systems composed of three compartments: the maternal tissues (represented in green on the picture here opposite), the embryo (in red), and its nourishing tissue the endosperm (in blue). In addition to actively importing and exporting nutrients, these tissues also undergo profound and tightly synchronized developmental transitions during seed development. This emphasizes the need to establish communication between these three different tissues in order to co-ordinate their developmental programs throughout the seed development.
The main questions tackled in the two plant models (Arabidopsis and maize) are:
 What are the signaling mechanisms and frameworks operating between the three main seed compartments?
 How is the structure/composition of the apoplast at compartment interfaces controlled, and how does interface structure/composition influence inter-compartmental communication?
( Doll et al. 2020, Current Biology ; Doll et al. 2020, Science ; Doll et al. 2020, Plant Cell ).


Haploid embryo induction

Leader: Thomas WIDIEZ

Peculiar maize lines (called “haploid inducer lines”) present a deviation from the classical plant double fertilization, leading to the production of atypical seeds containing haploid embryos (containing only the maternal genome, and a normal endosperm. Our pioneering work (Gilles et al. 2017, EMBO Journal) identified the underlying mutation in a phospholipase that we named NOT LIKE DAD (NLD) because haploid embryos lack a paternal contribution. This project aims at solving the mystery of how the pollen (male) expressed gene NLD induces maternal (female) haploid embryos. In addition to tackling fundamental questions in plant reproduction (e.g. characterization of pollen endo-plasma membrane that wraps the sperm cells (Gilles et al. 2021, JCB), this project is also strongly connected to plant breeding, because maize haploid inducer lines have become key tools for seed companies as part of in planta doubled haploid technologies, which allow rapid production of perfectly homozygous maize plants (see some of our reviews: Gilles et al. 2017, Current Biology and Jacquier et al. 2020, Nature Plants).

Part of this work is funded by

Mechanics of seed development

Leader: Benoit LANDREIN

Using the seed of Arabidopsis as a model system, we are studying how cell and tissue mechanics control the emergence of a specific shape during development. We have shown that the growth of the seed is driven by the turgor of the expanding endosperm (Beauzamy et al. 2016, Development) and that a specific layer of the seed coat (the adaxial epidermis of the outer integument) is able to respond to the tension induced by the growing endosperm by stiffening its inner cell wall thus revealing the existence of mechanical signaling within the developing seed (Creff et al. 2015, Nature Communications). Using a combination of experimental and modelling approaches in collaboration with other teams in the laboratory, we are studying further how the mechanical properties of the endosperm and the testa are regulated and influence seed morphogenesis.


Gene Editing & Maize transformation

Leaders: Peter ROGOWSKY / Thomas WIDIEZ

Biotechnological research in the team is centered around the maize transformation platform founded in 2008. The vocation of the platform is to produce transgenic maize plants for fundamental research and all plants produced are cultured exclusively in confined environments. The biological questions concern on one hand maize reproduction and kernel development in liaison with the SeedDev team, and on the other flowering time, tolerance to water deficit and nitrogen use efficiency in collaboration with national and international partners. In parallel, technological developments are carried out to improve maize transformation, for example by increasing the transformation rate, by shortening the duration of the transformation process or by adapting it to genome editing by CRISPR/Cas9 (Doll et al. 2019, Plant Cell reports ; Fierlej et al. 2022, Frontiers Plant science).

The platform is opened for outside collaborations. For further information please Contact Emilie MONTES


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