GRAIN ENDOSPERM

Endosperm is a major component of the seed, and is biologically and economically important. In all angiosperms, endosperm provides nutrients and signals to the embryo during seed development. In cereal grains, endosperm composes a large proportion of the mature seed, and contains large amounts of carbohydrates and proteins, which provide more than 50% of the calories in the human diet, either directly or indirectly through animal feed. Cereal endosperm also serves as a raw material for manufacturing important industrial products, including ethanol. Maize is an excellent model system for molecular genetic analysis of cereal endosperm and is the primary subject of this research project which focuses on maize early endosperm development, encompassing the time when the endosperm grows from a single cell into a multicellular structure composed of different specialized cell types. Although the molecular mechanisms that control this developmental period have not been elucidated, they are..

Also known as: GRAINENDOSPERM.ORG