Abstract
The seeds of flowering plants are sexually produced propagules that ensure dispersal and resilience of the next generation. Seeds harbor embryos, three dimensional structures that are often miniatures of the adult plant in terms of general structure and primordial organs. In addition, embryos contain the meristems that give rise to post-embryonically generated structures. However common, flowering plant embryos are an evolutionary derived state. Flowering plants are part of a much larger group of embryo-bearing plants, aptly termed Embryophyta. A key question is what evolutionary trajectory led to the emergence of flowering plant embryos. In this opinion, we deconstruct the flowering plant embryo and describe the current state of knowledge of embryos in other plant lineages. While we are far yet from understanding the ancestral state of plant embryogenesis, we argue what current knowledge may suggest and how the knowledge gaps may be closed.
Highlights
When asked the question “What is a plant embryo?”, one may intuitively think of those that we meet in daily life: the seeds of flowering plants
This is understandable, since much of our diet is made from flowering plant seeds. These seeds contain a mature embryo that generates a miniature form of the adult individual after its germination
When considering the evolutionary history of plant embryogenesis, it should be clear that this form of embryogenesis is a highly derived state, brought forward by a number of innovations that occurred during the long and rich history of flowering plant evolution
Summary
When asked the question “What is a plant embryo?”, one may intuitively think of those that we meet in daily life: the seeds of flowering plants This is understandable, since much of our diet is made from flowering plant seeds (think of beans, nuts or cereal grains). These seeds contain a mature embryo that generates a miniature form of the adult individual after its germination. The embryo itself is a miniature version of the plant, with one (monocots) or two (dicots) cotyledons (or scutellum in monocots), an embryonic stem and root, and meristems for shoot and root systems (reviewed in Dresselhaus and Jürgens 2021) These meristems are generally indeterminate meaning that they can continuously produce aerial or root tissues and organs, while maintaining their own structure (reviewed in Umeda et al 2021). We will discuss each of the steps that pertain to embryo development (excluding the seed and fruit) and place their appearance in the context of plant evolution
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