Abstract
Maize endosperm plays important roles in human diet, animal feed and industrial applications. Knowing the mechanisms that regulate maize endosperm development could facilitate the improvement of grain quality. This review provides a detailed account of maize endosperm development at the cellular and histological levels. It features the stages of early development as well as developmental patterns of the various individual tissues and cell types. It then covers molecular genetics, gene expression networks, and current understanding of key regulators as they affect the development of each tissue. The article then briefly considers key changes that have occurred in endosperm development during maize domestication. Finally, it considers prospects for how knowledge of the regulation of endosperm development could be utilized to enhance maize grain quality to improve agronomic performance, nutrition and economic value.
Highlights
Cereal grains represent one of the key agricultural innovations upon which human civilization is founded
During the cell proliferation and differentiation period, the endosperm grows to exceed 60% of the kernel area (Leroux et al, 2014) and its shape has inverted with a large distal portion where cell divisions are still occurring and a narrower base where divisions have ceased, a shape which it will maintain for the rest of kernel development
A co-expression network analysis between nkd1,2 and thk1 mutants suggests that NKD1,2 and THK1 may co-regulate cell cycle and division to restrict aleurone development to a single cell layer, whereas NKD1,2, but not THK1, may regulate auxin signaling to maintain normal aleurone differentiation (Wu and Becraft, 2021)
Summary
Cereal grains represent one of the key agricultural innovations upon which human civilization is founded. Between 10–15 DAP the cells become more distinct as aleurone by beginning to accumulate protein and membranes within smaller vacuoles, forming abundant lipid bodies, and developing a thickened wall (Kyle and Styles, 1977; Reyes et al, 2011).
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