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Probing the Genes Expressed in Developing Seed of Oilseed Plants: Brassica Napus (L.) as A Case Example

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Seed Development: OMICS Technologies toward Improvement of Seed Quality and Crop Yield

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Abstract

Seed development is controlled by complex regulatory interactions involving transcriptional, biochemical, and metabolic processes. In this chapter, we will briefly discuss the major changes in molecular components involved in the process of seed development using Brassica napus as a case example. The two major groups of storage compounds that accumulate during seed development in B. napus are lipids (∼ 60 %) and proteins (∼ 37 %). The accumulation of secondary metabolites also occurs around the same time as lipid accumulation. It is also worth noting that even though B. napus seeds are exalbuminous, there is considerable accumulation of carbohydrates during the initial stages of seed development. These carbohydrates contribute to fatty acid accumulation during the later stages of development. Several regulatory machineries, including transcription factors, chromatin remodeling elements, ubiquitination, and phosphoregulation by protein kinases are involved in this process. Transcripts of genes responsible for photosynthetic activities and hormonal regulation were also detected in the developing seed, but these processes are not covered in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dow AgroSciences LLC, 9330 Zionsville Road, IN 46268, Indianapolis, USA

    Sreekala Chellamma & Bhinu Pillai

  2. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre,, 1391 Sandford Street, N5V 4T3, London, Ontario, Canada

    Abdelali Hannoufa

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  1. Sreekala Chellamma
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  2. Bhinu Pillai
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Correspondence to Abdelali Hannoufa .

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  1. RLABB, Sanepa, Lalitpur, Nepal

    Ganesh K. Agrawal

  2. , Biology, University of Tsukuba, Tennoudai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, 305-8572, Japan

    Randeep Rakwal

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Chellamma, S., Pillai, B., Hannoufa, A. (2012). Probing the Genes Expressed in Developing Seed of Oilseed Plants: Brassica Napus (L.) as A Case Example. In: Agrawal, G., Rakwal, R. (eds) Seed Development: OMICS Technologies toward Improvement of Seed Quality and Crop Yield. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4749-4_10

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