About this Research Topic

Background

Seed development represents an important phase of the life cycle in sexually reproducing plant species. A seed is a complex organ system of three components, the embryo that contributes to germline continuity, endosperm for nourishment, and the seed coat for protection. The developmental programs and the associated events that culminate in the production of a mature seed are highly complex and require precisely coordinated integration of the genetic, molecular, biochemical, metabolic, and physiological pathways and their interactions with environmental cues. Research advances in seed development, using model and crop species such as Arabidopsis, rice, maize, wheat, and Brassica species, have uncovered several key genes and pathways that regulate the cell and tissue specification, differentiation, and growth programs. The key findings from these studies are helping to develop a framework for advancing the knowledge and understanding of the process and the underpinning molecular mechanisms of an embryo, endosperm, and seed coat development. However, knowledge gaps still exist in understanding the regulating networks and metabolic programs involved in defining several important seed traits associated with seed quality and yield, especially in crop plants.

Continued rapid advances in omics technologies have contributed to the development of several critical tools for performing genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome studies and their applications in seed development. Bioinformatics and computational tools are also playing important contributions in the large-scale genome-wide systems-level analysis, modeling, and predictions to identify and characterize the underpinning mechanisms that support seed formation. A holistic understanding of the complexities and interactions that drive seed development is becoming increasingly possible with the application of “omics” tools to decipher gene, protein, and metabolite networks. In the proposed Research Topic, we highlight current advances in genomics, proteomics, lipidomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and phenomics studies of seed development in both model and crop species. We aim to further elucidate how these key genetic regulators and pathway genes act together to control cell division, patterning, differentiation, and storage reserve accumulation during seed development; how these critical processes coordinate to define the seed as a whole; and how the genetic and regulatory networks function to generate tremendous natural diversity in the size, number and compositional aspects of plant seeds.

Our Research Topic covers the following themes:
(1) Genetic and epigenetic regulation of seed development, particularly the studies using functional genomics approaches.
(2) Omics of embryo, endosperm, and seed coat development.
(3) Cellular mechanisms of embryo, endosperm, and seed coat organogenesis.
(4) Functional conservation and specification of important regulators of seed development in the evolution plant reproduction.
(5) Integrated systems-level approaches studies, including genomics, proteomics, lipidomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and phenomics, and modeling to examine key processes in the formation of seeds, from fertilization to the onset of dormancy and germination, and provide foundational and comprehensive insights into seed biology.

We invite submissions of Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Opinion manuscripts related to the above topics. In particular, we welcome articles that combine molecular genetic approaches with omics techniques to examine the nutritional value, agronomic performance, gene regulatory networks, and molecular mechanisms that control the development of the three seed sub-compartments and provide insights to improve seed yield and seed quality.

Disclaimer: Comparative omic analyses that only report a collection of differentially expressed e.g. genes/metabolites/proteins, some validated by qPCR under different conditions or treatments; will also not be considered for review. They can be considered if extended to provide meaningful insights into gene/protein function and/or the biology of the subject described.

Keywords: Omics, Seed Development, Challenges, Opportunities, Seed Quality, Seed Yield, Model Plants, Crop Plants

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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