We are interested in understanding the regulatory processes that mediate fertilization and the initiation of seed development. The plant life cycle alternates between a diploid sporophyte generation and a haploid gametophyte generation. The angiosperm female gametophyte is critical to the reproductive process. It is the structure within which egg cell production and fertilization take place. Using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, we are focusing on two specific processes: (1) development of the female gametophyte and (2) control of seed initiation by gene-regulatory complexes before and after fertilization. For example, we are using a combination of expression-based analyses and genetic resources of Arabidopsis to identify major gene-regulatory networks involved in the differentiation of the female gametophyte cell types. Similarly, using biochemical, molecular and genetic approaches, we are identifying components of the Polycomb-group complexes that mediate epigenetic repression of gene expression before fertilization.
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Wang, D., M.D. Tyson, S.S. Jackson, and R. Yadegari. 2006. Partially redundant functions of two SET-domain polycomb-group proteins in controlling initiation of seed development in Arabidopsis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 103: 13244-13249.
Dinneny, J.R., R. Yadegari, R.L. Fischer, M.F. Yanofsky, and D. Weigel. 2004. The role of JAGGED in shaping lateral organs. Development 131: 1101-1110.
Yadegari, R., and G.N. Drews. 2004. Female gametophyte development. Plant Cell 16 Suppl, S133-141.
Drews, G.N., and R. Yadegari. 2002 Development and function of the angiosperm female gametophyte. Annual Review of Genetics 36: 99-124.
