Our next Friday Seminar speaker is Professor Yu Hao from the National University of Singapore.

Email jic.fridayseminars@jic.ac.uk to request access to the recording.

Abstract

Seed size is a pivotal agronomic trait that links plant sexual reproduction and subsequent seedling establishment, and is regulated by the timing of endosperm cellularization.

After double fertilisation in flowering plants, the resulting primary endosperm nucleus undergoes mitoses without cytokinesis, generating the syncytial endosperm that is spatially divided into three domains, including micropylar, peripheral and chalazal endosperm.

Cellularization of the micropylar and peripheral endosperm terminates the endosperm proliferation, and governs the volume of seed cavity for the embryo enlargement, thus controlling the final seed size.

Notably, the chalazal endosperm, which is close to maternal vascular tissues, is the only part of endosperm that is not cellularized during seed development. By now the biological function of the chalazal endosperm in seed development is largely unknown.

In this seminar, I will discuss that TERMINAL FLOWER1 (TFL1), a phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein (PEBP) family member previously known as a shoot identity gene, is a mobile regulator that is expressed in the chalazal endosperm and moves to the syncytial peripheral endosperm to determine endosperm cellularization and seed size in Arabidopsis.

Professor Yu Hao biography

Professor Hao YU is currently Provost Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore (NUS), Board Director and Temasek Senior Investigator of Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, and Elected Fellow of the Singapore National Academy of Science.

He obtained Bachelor and Master’s Degree in Shanghai Jiaotong University (China), and Ph.D degree in NUS (Singapore), and did postdoc research in California Institute of Technology (USA).

Professor Yu’s lab focuses on molecular mechanisms of plant reproductive development and epitranscriptomics as well as their applications in economically important crops.

He is currently serving in International Advisory/Evaluation Panels for national institutions and fellowships in various countries, and also serving as Editorial Board member for reputable international journals, such as Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology, eLife, and PLoS Genetics.

He is the awardee of Singapore President’s Science Award, National Research Foundation Investigatorship, and National Young Scientist Award.