In this review, a summary of our current knowledge is presented, and …

• Abstract
• Introduction
• The dehiscence process
• The genetics of pod shattering
• The downstream effectors
• Signalling and co-ordination
• Is there hormonal control of dehiscence?
• Summary
• References
• Figures

Biology Articles » Botany » Regulation of fruit dehiscence in Arabidopsis » Introduction

Introduction

- Regulation of fruit dehiscence in Arabidopsis

Introduction 

Fruits have evolved to mediate the maturation and dispersal of seeds. For this purpose, a multitude of mechanisms can be found. Essentially, the fruit is a mature ovary, which may include additional parts of the flower, forming a complex structure that can be arranged in a great variety of ways. Among these, many dry simple fruits undergo a process of dehiscence to achieve seed dispersal. This process is accomplished through a carefully orchestrated event that occurs late in fruit development, and involves the differentiation of specialized cell types that must allow cell separation at some point.

Since the manipulation of dehiscence could improve crop yield, both plant breeders and scientists have focused their attention on this process. Physiological studies from the 1970s focused on fruits such as cotton and pecan (Lipe and Morgan, 1972), while in the last decade, Brassica napus became the focus for the morphological and molecular characterizations of the dehiscence process (Meakin and Roberts, 1990a, b; Roberts et al., 2000). Comparative anatomical and physiological studies in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana revealed that dehiscence is very similar to the same process in Brassica (Spence et al., 1996). The use of Arabidopsis, for which extensive genetic and molecular tools are available, has allowed a rapid advance in understanding how this process is regulated. In this review, the focus will be on the genetic mechanisms underlying the regulation of pod dehiscence in this model plant.