Arabidopsis thaliana strain:Landberg erecta Transcriptome or Gene expression

The female gametophyte (embryo sac) is crucial for the reproduction of angiosperms. It harbors the female gametes which, following fertilisation, give rise to embryo and endosperm. The embryo sac of Arabidopsis thaliana is a highly polarised structure with four distinct cell types formed within three mitotic divisions. Cell fate decisions were reported to be set already early. Positioning of the nuclei in the four-nucleate embryo sac after the second meiotic division seems to be important. The genetic and molecular basis underlying embryo sac development and cell specification during megagametogenesis is largely unknown, due to the inaccessibility of the embryo sac. The aim of this project was to identify genes important for polar development of the female gametophyte of Arabidopsis thaliana. Cell halves were isolated with laser-assisted microdissection and profiled with SOLiD sequencing.