Alterations in seed development gene expression affect size and oil content of Arabidopsis seeds

Seed endosperm development in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) is under control of the polycomb group complex, which includes Fertilization Independent Endosperm (FIE). The polycomb group complex regulates downstream factors, e.g. Pheres1 (PHE1), by genomic imprinting. In heterozygous fie mutants, an endosperm develops in ovules carrying a maternal fie allele without fertilization, finally leading to abortion. Another endosperm development pathway depends on MINISEED3 (a WRKY10 transcription factor) and HAIKU2 (a leucine-rich repeat kinase). While the role of seed development genes in the embryo and endosperm establishment has been studied in detail, their impact on metabolism and oil accumulation remained unclear. Analysis of oil, protein, and sucrose accumulation in mutants and overexpression plants of the four seed development genes revealed that (1) seeds carrying a maternal fie allele accumulate low oil with an altered composition of triacylglycerol molecular species; (2) homozygous mutant seeds of phe1, mini3, and iku2, which are smaller, accumulate less oil and slightly less protein, and starch, which accumulates early during seed development, remains elevated in mutant seeds; (3) embryo-specific overexpression of FIE, PHE1, and MINI3 has no influence on seed size and weight, nor on oil, protein, or sucrose content; and (4) overexpression of IKU2 results in seeds with increased size and weight, and oil content of overexpressed IKU2 seeds is increased by 35%. Thus, IKU2 overexpression represents a novel strategy for the genetic manipulation of the oil content in seeds.