Control of Fertilization-Independent Development by the FIE1 Gene

A fundamental problem in biology is to understand how fertilization initiates reproductive development. During plant reproduction, one sperm cell fuses with the egg to form an embryo, whereas a second sperm cell fuses with the adjacent central cell nucleus to form the endosperm tissue that supports embryo and/or seedling development. To understand the mechanisms that initiate reproduction, we have isolated mutants of Arabidopsis that allow for replication of the central cell and subsequent endosperm development without fertilization. In this project we have cloned the MEA gene and showed that it encode a SET- domain polycomb protein. Such proteins are known to form chromatin-protein complexes that repress homeotic gene transcription and influence cell proliferation from Drosophylla to mammals. We propose a model whereby MEA and an additional polycomb protein we have cloned, FIE , function to suppress a critical aspect of early plant reproduction and endosperm development, until fertilization occurs. Using a molecular approach we were able to determine that FIE and MEA interact physically, suggesting that these proteins have been conserved also during the evolution of flowering plants. The analysis of MEA expression pattern revealed that it is an imprinted gene that displays parent-of- origin-dependent monoallelic expression specifically in the endosperm tissue. Silencing of the paternal MEA allele in the endosperm and the phenotype of mutant mea seeds support the parental conflict theory for the evolution of imprinting in plants and mammals. These results contribute new information on the initiation of endosperm development and provide a unique entry point to study asexual reproduction and apomixis which is expected to improve crop production.