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During seed development, phytic acid (PA) associated with mineral cations is stored as phytin and mobilized following germination in support of seedling growth. Two parallel biosynthetic pathways for PA have been proposed; yet the pathway is still poorly understood in terms of its regulation and the enzymes involved. Here, the castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) gene for inositol 1,3,4,5,6-pentakisphosphate 2-kinase (RcIPK1) has been identified. This encodes the enzyme implicated in catalyzing the final reaction in PA biosynthesis, and its expression is enhanced in isolated germinated embryos by application of phosphate and myo-inositol (Ins). Even though only one copy of the RcIPK1 gene is present in the genome, numerous RNA variants are present, most likely due to alternative splicing. These are translated into six closely related protein isoforms according to in silico analysis. Functional analyses using yeast ipk1Δ revealed that only three of the mRNA variants can rescue a temperature-sensitive growth phenotype of this strain. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the synthesized inositol phosphates demonstrated that the ability to complement the missing yeast IPK1 enzyme is associated with the production of enzyme activity. The three active isoforms possess unique conserved motifs important for IPK1 catalytic activity.

Background and Aims: Seeds of carob, Chinese senna, date and fenugreek are hard due to thickened endosperm cell walls containing mannan polymers. How the radicle is able penetrate these thickened walls to complete seed germination is not clearly understood. The objective of this study was to determine if radicle emergence is related to the production of endo-beta-mannanase to weaken the mannan-rich cell walls of the surrounding endosperm region, and/or if the endosperm structure itself is such that it is weaker in the region through which the radicle must penetrate., Methods: Activity of endo-beta-mannanase in the endosperm and embryo was measured using a gel assay during and following germination, and the structure of the endosperm in juxtaposition to the radicle, and surrounding the cotyledons was determined using fixation, sectioning and light microscopy., Key Results: The activity of endo-beta-mannanase, the major enzyme responsible for galactomannan cell wall weakening increased in activity only after emergence of the radicle from the seed. Thickened cell walls were present in the lateral endosperm in the hard-seeded species studied, but there was little to no thickening in the micropylar endosperm except in date seeds. In this species, a ring of thin cells was visible in the micropylar endosperm and surrounding an operculum which was pushed open by the expanding radicle to complete germination., Conclusions: The micropylar endosperm presents a lower physical constraint to the completion of germination than the lateral endosperm, and hence its structure is predisposed to permit radicle protrusion.

The ricinosome (precursor protease vesicle) is an organelle found exclusively in plant cells. Ricinosomes contain a 45-kDa pro-cysteine endopeptidase (CysEP) with a C-terminal KDEL endoplasmic reticulum retention signal. CysEP is a member of a unique group of papain-type cysteine peptidases found specifically in senescing and ricinosome-containing tissues. During seed development in the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis L.), the cells of the nucellus are killed as the major seed storage organ, the cellular endosperm, expands and begins to accumulate reserves. The destruction of the maternal seed tissues is a developmentally programmed cell death. Terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling revealed that nuclear DNA fragmentation occurs in the nucellar cells adjacent to the expanding endosperm. These cells exhibit ultrastructural features consistent with programmed cell death, including vesiculation of the cytosol, development of irregularly shaped nuclei, vacuolar collapse, and shrinkage of the cytoplasm. Ricinosomes containing the CysEP were identified in the nucellar cells by light and electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry. Both proCysEP and mature CysEP are present in protein extracts of the nucellar tissues during seed development. Upon collapse of the nucellar cells, the content of the ricinosomes is released into the cytoplasm, where the activated CysEP digests the remaining proteinaceous cellular debris. Digestion products of the nucellar cells are presumed taken up by the outermost cells of the endosperm, which have labyrinthine ingrowths of the outer walls typical of transfer cells.

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a requisite, genetically controlled process in plants resulting in the death of particular cells and tissues and the recycling of the cellular constituents back to the organism. PCD in the lateral and micropylar endosperm cells during and following germination of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seeds was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, by terminal d-UTP nick-end labelling of nuclei, and agarose gel electrophoretic analysis of genomic DNA. Postgerminative cells of lateral and micropylar endosperm displayed morphologies and terminal d-UTP nick-end labelling positive nuclei consistent with PCD. PCD was not detected in the lateral endosperm in the absence of the embryo. The embryo’s effect on promoting lateral endosperm PCD could be substituted with gibberellic acid at 50 μmol/L. Micropylar endosperm cells undergo PCD irrespective of incubation with or without the embryo; gibberellic acid only hastens the onset of PCD morphology. Precursor protease vesicles, novel endoplasmic reticulum derived organelles considered markers of PCD, were observed in postgerminative lateral and micropylar endosperm cells. Internucleosomal laddering was not detected in endospermic DNA. These results suggest that a late postimbibition gibberellic acid linked mechanism promotes PCD in the lateral endosperm, whereas the promotion of PCD in the micropylar endosperm occurs early in, or prior to, imbibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]