Flavonoids - Critical regulators of seed development - Literature review Example

It has been observed that the size of a seed has influence on the germination process as well as on how the plant survives and grows in the long run. Seeds that are large in size generally possess greater germination and survival power that smaller sized seeds (USDA Forest Service, 2010, pp.132-137). This reflects on the importance of the seed size in the development of the seed. Mizuno et al had mentioned that when hybridization is considered in relation to development of seeds, the speciation of hybrid can be learnt to be present in two classifications.

These classifications depend on the ploidy level of the plant and thus can be either homoploid or polyploidy. Genetic incompatibilities might occur in the process of such hybridization that might be considered as barriers for the process. The barriers in the hybridization process might occur as a result of the abnormalities in the hybrid like the hybrid necrosis that includes a reproductive isolation in the plant development phenomenon (Mizuno et al, 2010). According to Thompson et al, flavonoids and transporters of flavonoids are necessary in the developmental process of seeds.

The Arabidopsis flavonoid transporter plays a major role in seed development. The flavonoids protect the seeds from the ultraviolet light as well as pigmenting the flowers of the plants for the enhancement of pollination which is essential for seed development. The flavonoids regulate the transport of auxin in the seed. What is more important is the manner in which the compounds conduct their transportation in between the synthesis site to the necessary cell location and tissues (Thompson et al, 2009, pp.439-451). Studies of Fulton et al represent the fact that the behavior of a cell needs controlling measures that are efficiently conducted by intercellular signaling.

The integument cell development has been observed in the Arabidopsis that presents the