Asymmetric Cell Division in the Zygote of Flowering Plants: The Continuing Polarized Event of Embryo Sac Development

2016 ◽  
pp. 257-283
Author(s):  
Arturo Lòpez-Villalobos ◽  
Ana Lòpez-Quiròz ◽  
Edward Yeung
Keyword(s):  
Cell Division ◽  
Asymmetric Cell Division ◽  
Embryo Sac ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Embryo Sac Development

Embryo sac and early ovule development in Oryzopsis miliacea and Stipa tortilis

1970 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Maze ◽  
Lesly R. Bohm ◽  
Lyle E. Mehlenbacher Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Cell Division ◽  
Pollen Tube ◽  
Nuclear Division ◽  
Outer Integument ◽  
Embryo Sac ◽  
Ovule Development ◽  
Polygonum Type ◽  
Embryo Sac Development

The ovules of Stipa tortilis and Oryzopsis miliacea are hemianatropous, bitegmetic, and pseudocrassinucellate (sensu Davis 1966). The hemianatropous shape of the ovule is the result of characteristic patterns of cell division and enlargement in the chalazal area and areas alongside the embryo sac. Embryo sac development in both is Polygonum-type and both have proliferating antipodals. Endosperm is nuclear, although in O. miliacea it is atypical in that nuclear division is synchronous within one portion of the embryo sac, e.g. micropylar, but not synchronous between different portions of the embryo sac, e.g., micropylar and chalazal. Differences in ovule initiation, persistence of the outer integument, fate of the inner integument, nature of the nucellus, shape of the embryo sac, nature of the synergids, cytoplasm of the egg, polar nuclei, and endosperm exist between these two taxa. Both synergids of O. miliacea undergo changes before fertilization and one degenerates before fertilization. The pollen tube enters the embryo sac at the base of the persistent synergid. There is presently insufficient embryological data to permit meaningful speculation on relationships between Stipa and Oryzopsis. Embryologically, Stipa and Oryzopsis are festucoid grasses, as much other evidence indicates. Embryo sac development in the Gramineae is more similar to that of the Restionaceae than to that of the Cyperaceae. This is in contradiction to recent speculations on the relationships of the Gramineae.

scholarly journals Cytoskeleton dynamics control the first asymmetric cell division in Arabidopsis zygote

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (49) ◽  
pp. 14157-14162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Kimata ◽  
Takumi Higaki ◽  
Tomokazu Kawashima ◽  
Daisuke Kurihara ◽  
Yoshikatsu Sato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Division ◽  
Asymmetric Cell Division ◽  
Imaging System ◽  
Major Elements ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Egg Cell ◽  
Apical Region ◽  
Apical Direction ◽  
Multicellular Organisms ◽  
Cytoskeleton Dynamics

The asymmetric cell division of the zygote is the initial and crucial developmental step in most multicellular organisms. In flowering plants, whether zygote polarity is inherited from the preexisting organization in the egg cell or reestablished after fertilization has remained elusive. How dynamically the intracellular organization is generated during zygote polarization is also unknown. Here, we used a live-cell imaging system with Arabidopsis zygotes to visualize the dynamics of the major elements of the cytoskeleton, microtubules (MTs), and actin filaments (F-actins), during the entire process of zygote polarization. By combining image analysis and pharmacological experiments using specific inhibitors of the cytoskeleton, we found features related to zygote polarization. The preexisting alignment of MTs and F-actin in the egg cell is lost on fertilization. Then, MTs organize into a transverse ring defining the zygote subapical region and driving cell outgrowth in the apical direction. F-actin forms an apical cap and longitudinal arrays and is required to position the nucleus to the apical region of the zygote, setting the plane of the first asymmetrical division. Our findings show that, in flowering plants, the preexisting cytoskeletal patterns in the egg cell are lost on fertilization and that the zygote reorients the cytoskeletons to perform directional cell elongation and polar nuclear migration.

Centromere assembly and non-random sister chromatid segregation in stem cells

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben L. Carty ◽  
Elaine M. Dunleavy
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cell Division ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Sister Chromatid ◽  
Asymmetric Cell Division ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Germline Stem Cells ◽  
Sister Chromatids ◽  
Centromere Protein A ◽  
Oocyte Meiosis

Abstract Asymmetric cell division (ACD) produces daughter cells with separate distinct cell fates and is critical for the development and regulation of multicellular organisms. Epigenetic mechanisms are key players in cell fate determination. Centromeres, epigenetically specified loci defined by the presence of the histone H3-variant, centromere protein A (CENP-A), are essential for chromosome segregation at cell division. ACDs in stem cells and in oocyte meiosis have been proposed to be reliant on centromere integrity for the regulation of the non-random segregation of chromosomes. It has recently been shown that CENP-A is asymmetrically distributed between the centromeres of sister chromatids in male and female Drosophila germline stem cells (GSCs), with more CENP-A on sister chromatids to be segregated to the GSC. This imbalance in centromere strength correlates with the temporal and asymmetric assembly of the mitotic spindle and potentially orientates the cell to allow for biased sister chromatid retention in stem cells. In this essay, we discuss the recent evidence for asymmetric sister centromeres in stem cells. Thereafter, we discuss mechanistic avenues to establish this sister centromere asymmetry and how it ultimately might influence cell fate.

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