Layers of regulation - Insights into the role of transcription factors controlling mucilage production in the Arabidopsis seed coat

Abstract

A polysaccharide-rich mucilage is released from the seed coat epidermis of numerous plant species and has been intensively studied in the model plant Arabidopsis. This has led to the identification of a large number of genes involved in the synthesis, secretion and modification of cell wall polysaccharides such as pectin, hemicellulose and cellulose being identified. These genes include a small network of transcription factors (TFs) and transcriptional co-regulators, that not only regulate mucilage production, but epidermal cell differentiation and in some cases flavonoid biosynthesis in the internal endothelial layer of the seed coat. Here we focus on the function of these regulators and pr..