Developmental biology of the cereal endosperm

The recent application of immunohistochemistry and molecular techniques has revealed that endosperm development depends on a genetic program that comb ines an ancient process for cellularization (similar to that seen in late P aleozoic seed ferns) with a mechanism for specifying asymmetric cell fates that has parallels to signaling processes in mammals. Progress has been fur ther accelerated by the recent realization that the conserved nature of nuc lear endosperm development extends beyond the grass species, to include dic ots, such as Arabidopsis. It is anticipated that these ongoing studies will provide invaluable tools for the improvement of yield and grain quality in cereal crops.