Ovule Development in Plants – Progress and Challenges

Dear Colleague,

The plant ovule is a remarkable structure that produces and protects the female reproductive cells from the earliest stages of flower development until seed maturity. Comprising multiple tissues and cell types, the ovule has been utilised for many years as a model to study cell differentiation and development, particularly in species such as Arabidopsis thaliana. In parallel, studies have investigated the evolutionary origin and ancestral function of different ovule tissues, examining relationships between diverse angiosperms, gymnosperms, and more recently in comparison to basal land plants.

Progress in genomics and phenomics has rapidly changed the way in which ovule development is studied. Cells, tissues and species that were once inaccessible can now be profiled and quantified with incredible accuracy. This has led to the identification of genes and pathways responsible for germline initiation and progression and delivered hope that novel reproductive strategies (such as apomixis and heterosis) might soon be transferred into the crops that sustain human civilisation.

However, perhaps of greatest importance in a time of changing climates is understanding how reproductive pathways interact with stress and external stimuli. In cereal crops such as wheat and barley, stable ovule formation influences the number of fertile florets per spike, which is a key component of plant yield. Environmental challenges negatively impact reproductive development, but the ovule is generally reported to be resilient against stress. How this is achieved is not entirely clear. Indeed, mechanistic understanding of ovule development in many crop species is far from complete. Factors that contribute to variation in ovule size, shape and tissue complexity may provide tools to assess how reproductive tissues are formed and respond to environmental factors. Such knowledge will ensure breeders are better placed to generate cultivars with more robust and sustainable yields in challenging environments.

This topic provides an opportunity to assess progress in the field of ovule development, both in the context of model species and key crops.

Dr. Matthew Tucker
Dr. Daphné Autran
Guest Editors

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• Ovule
• Germline
• Female gametophyte
• Stress
• Seed
• Yield