Mechanisms of Plant Ovule Development and Plasticity

Dear colleagues,

The plant ovule is a remarkable structure that produces and protects the female reproductive cells from the earliest stages of flower development until seed maturity. Comprising multiple tissues and cell types, the ovule has been utilised for many years as a model to study cell differentiation and development, particularly in species such as Arabidopsis thaliana. In parallel, studies have investigated the evolutionary origin and ancestral function of different ovule tissues, examining relationships between diverse angiosperms and gymnosperms, and, more recently, in comparison to basal land plants.

Progress in genomics and phenomics has rapidly changed the way in which ovule development is studied. Cells, tissues, and species that were once inaccessible can now be profiled and quantified with incredible accuracy. This has led to the identification of genes and pathways responsible for germline initiation and progression and delivered hope that novel reproductive strategies (such as apomixis and heterosis) might soon be transferred into the crops that sustain human civilisation.

However, perhaps of greatest importance in a time of changing climates is understanding how reproductive pathways interact with stress and external stimuli. In cereal crops such as wheat and barley, stable ovule formation influences the number of fertile florets per spike, which is a key component of plant yield. Environmental challenges negatively impact reproductive development, but the ovule is generally reported to be resilient against stress. How this is achieved is not entirely clear. Indeed, our mechanistic understanding of ovule development in many crop species is far from complete. Factors that contribute to variation in ovule size, shape, and tissue complexity may provide us with tools to assess how reproductive tissues are formed and respond to environmental factors. Such knowledge will ensure that breeders are better placed to generate cultivars with more robust and sustainable yields in challenging environments.

This Special Issue will provide an opportunity to assess progress in the field of ovule development, both in the context of model species and key crops.

Dr. Matthew Tucker
Dr. Daphné Autran
Dr. Olivier Leblanc
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• ovule
• germline
• female gametophyte
• stress
• seed
• yield
• apomixis