title: "What we've got here is failure to communicate": zou mutants and endosperm cell death in seed development.
abstract: ZHOUPI, a unique and highly conserved bHLH transcription factor, controls both endosperm breakdown and embryonic surface formation during Arabidopsis seed development. We have demonstrated that these two processes are distinct, and that ZHOUPI regulates embryonic surface formation via a signaling pathway mediated by the subtilisin-like serine protease ABNORMAL LEAF SHAPE1, and the receptor-kinases GASSHO1 and GASSHO2. Gene expression profiling in mutant backgrounds has permitted the identification of genes whose expression depends on both ZHOUPI and ABNORMAL LEAF SHAPE1 and genes whose expression depends uniquely on ZHOUPI. The latter are presumably involved specifically in endosperm breakdown, and we discuss this poorly understood process in the light of our results. Finally, we consider the potential ancestral role of ZHOUPI and discuss how its relationship with ABNORMAL LEAF SHAPE1 may have evolved.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Reproduction et Développement des Plantes; BioSciences Gerland-Lyon Sud; ENS Lyon; Lyon, France; Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences; University of Edinburgh; Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Creff
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goodrich
authors.forename: Gwyneth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ingram
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016923:Cell Death; D056625:Endosperm / Q000378:metabolism; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development*; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; C532182:RETARDED GROWTH OF EMBRYO1 protein, Arabidopsis; C443900:ALE1 protein, Arabidopsis