Histone acetylation functions in the wound-induced spore formation in nori.

The red macroalgae is one of the most economically important marine crops. In the asexual reproduction process, released archeospores could provide secondary seedling resources in nori farming and be used to establish asexual seeding strategies. We previously found that wounds could induce the somatic cells in sectioned thalli to develop into large number of asexual wound-induced spores (WIS) in a short time.

Comparative Gene Expression and Physiological Analyses Reveal Molecular Mechanisms in Wound-Induced Spore Formation in the Edible Seaweed Nori.

Genetic reprogramming of differentiated cells is studied broadly in multicellular Viridiplantae as an adaptation to herbivory or damage; however, mechanisms underlying cell development and redifferentiation are largely unknown in red algae, their nearest multicellular relatives. Here we investgate cell reprogramming in the widely cultivated, edible seaweed ("nori"), where vegetative cells in wounded blades differentiate and release as large numbers of asexual spores. Based upon physiological changes and transcriptomic dynamics after wound stress in and its congener , another cultivar that does not differentiate spores after wounding, we propose a three-phase model of wound-induced spore development in .