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JXB Advance Access published online on August 28, 2007
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erm137
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© The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

RESEARCH PAPER

Programmed cell death of the nucellus during Sechium edule Sw. seed development is associated with activation of caspase-like proteases

Lara Lombardi1,*, Simone Casani1, Nello Ceccarelli2, Luciano Galleschi1, Piero Picciarelli2 and Roberto Lorenzi1

1Department of Biology University of Pisa, Via Ghini 5, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
2Department of Crop Plant Biology University of Pisa, Via Mariscoglio 34, I-56124, Pisa, Italy

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: llombardi{at}biologia.unipi.it

The nucellus is a maternal tissue that embeds and feeds the developing embryo and secondary endosperm. During seed development, the cells of the nucellus suffer a degenerative process soon after fertilization as the cellular endosperm expands and accumulates reserves. Nucellar cell degeneration has been considered to be a form of developmentally programmed cell death (PCD). It was investigated whether or not this degenerative process is characterized by apoptotic hallmarks. Evidence showed that cell death is mostly localized in the border region of the tissue adjacent to the expanding endosperm. Cell death is accompanied by profound changes in the morphology of the nuclei and by a huge degradation of nuclear DNA. Moreover, an increase of activity of different classes of proteinases is reported, and the induction of caspase-like proteases sensitive to specific inhibitors was detected. Nucellar caspase-like proteases are characterized by an acid pH optimum suggesting a possible localization in the vacuole.

Key words: Cell death, DNA fragmentation, endosperm, nucellus, proteases, viability

Received 16 March 2007; Revised 24 May 2007 Accepted 25 May 2007


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