Auxin production in the endosperm drives seed coat development in Arabidopsis

Seed vitality is critical for plants’ evolutionary survival and food production by economic crops such as rice, wheat, etc. Seed formation is preceded by well-coordinated events involving mainly fertilization, endosperm and seed coat formation in chronological order. How is the signal relayed from one event to another to make seeds? Is this signal maternally or paternally derived? What is the nature of this signal? Auxin has already been shown to be coupled to endosperm formation. In this paper, Figueiredo at al. present evidence that auxin is also involved in initiation of seed coat formation via a MADS-box transcription factor. (Summary by Nidhi Sharma) eLife. 10.7554/eLife.20542