Abstract
The Arabidopsis seed coat is derived from the maternal parent and is composed of two integuments (the outer and inner integuments). The inner integument consists of three cell layers (ii1, ii2, and ii3). Recently, we reported that programmed cell death (PCD) occurs in the two cell layers (ii2 and ii3) of the inner integument at the early stage of seed maturation and that δVPE, one of vacuolar processing enzyme (VPE), is involved in the cell death. To clarify the molecular mechanism underlying the PCD of the two cell layers, we searched factors that express together with δVPE based on DNA microarray. Some of the candidates might collaborate with δVPE in cell death of limited cell layers, the purpose of which is to form a seed coat.
