Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
DNA Methylation Causes
Predominant Maternal
Controls of Plant Embryo
Growth
Jonathan FitzGerald, Ming Luo, Abed Chaudhury and
Frédéric Berger
abstRact
The parental conflict hypothesis predicts that the mother inhibits embryo
growth counteracting growth enhancement by the father. In plants the DNA
methyltransferase MET1 is a central regulator of parentally imprinted genes
that affect seed growth. However the relation between the role of MET1 in
imprinting and its control of seed size has remained unclear. Here we com-
bine cytological, genetic and statistical analyses to study the effect of MET1
on seed growth. We show that the loss of MET1 during male gametogen-
esis causes a reduction of seed size, presumably linked to silencing of the
