Dosage-sensitive maternal siRNAs determine hybridization success in Capsella.

Hybrid seed failure arising from wide crosses between plant species is a recurring obstacle in plant breeding, impeding the transfer of desirable traits. This postzygotic reproductive barrier primarily occurs in the endosperm, a tissue that nourishes the embryo and functions similarly to the placenta in mammals. We found that incompatible seeds show a loss of DNA methylation and chromatin condensation in the endosperm, similar to seeds lacking maternal RNA polymerase IV activity.

A PARTHENOGENESIS allele from apomictic dandelion can induce egg cell division without fertilization in lettuce.

Apomixis, the clonal formation of seeds, is a rare yet widely distributed trait in flowering plants. We have isolated the PARTHENOGENESIS (PAR) gene from apomictic dandelion that triggers embryo development in unfertilized egg cells. PAR encodes a K2-2 zinc finger, EAR-domain protein.

Plant Breeding: Surprisingly, Less Sex Is Better.

Introduction of apomixis, asexual reproduction through seeds, into crop species has the potential to dramatically transform plant breeding. A new study demonstrates that traits can be stably transferred between generations in newly produced apomictic lines, and heralds a breeding revolution needed to increase food production for the growing planet.

Comparison of two ecotypes of the metal hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens (J. & C. PRESL) at the transcriptional level.

This paper investigates differences in gene expression among the two Thlaspi caerulescens ecotypes La Calamine (LC) and Lellingen (LE) that have been shown to differ in metal tolerance and metal uptake. LC originates from a metalliferous soil and tolerates higher metal concentrations than LE which originates from a non-metalliferous soil. The two ecotypes were treated with different levels of zinc in solution culture, and differences in gene expression were assessed through application of a cDNA microarray consisting of 1,700 root and 2,700 shoot cDNAs.

High-throughput detection of induced mutations and natural variation using KeyPoint technology.

Reverse genetics approaches rely on the detection of sequence alterations in target genes to identify allelic variants among mutant or natural populations. Current (pre-) screening methods such as TILLING and EcoTILLING are based on the detection of single base mismatches in heteroduplexes using endonucleases such as CEL 1. However, there are drawbacks in the use of endonucleases due to their relatively poor cleavage efficiency and exonuclease activity.

The heavy metal hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens expresses many species-specific genes, as identified by comparative expressed sequence tag analysis.

Thlaspi caerulescens is a natural zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni) hyperaccumulator and an emerging plant model species to study heavy metal hyperaccumulation and tolerance. This paper describes the analysis of the first expressed sequence tag (EST) collection from T. caerulescens.

Transcription profiling of the metal-hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens (J. & C. PRESL).

Thlaspi caerulescens is a well-studied metal-hyperaccumulator of zinc, cadmium and nickel, belonging to the Brassicaceae family. Moreover it is one of the few hyperaccumulators that occur on different metalliferous soil types, as well as on nonmetalliferous soils. We are interested in the development of systems to improve phytoremediation of metal contaminated soils through improved metal-accumulation.