Heat Stress Impact on Seed Development in Brassica Species
Summary
Heat stress poses a significant threat to the yield and quality of seeds in Brassica species, including oilseed rape (Brassica napus) and related oilseeds. Elevated temperatures during critical reproductive phases—from gametophyte formation through seed filling—can disrupt pollen viability, fertilisation success and early embryo growth. At the cellular level, high temperatures induce protein misfolding, membrane destabilisation and accumulation of reactive oxygen species, leading to oxidative damage in developing ovules and embryos. Consequent reductions in pod set, seed number and seed weight translate directly into yield losses and altered oil and fatty acid composition. Advances in physiological and transcriptomic profiling have revealed genotype-specific patterns of heat tolerance, identifying key gene networks involved in heat shock protein function, antioxidant defence and hormonal signalling. Understanding these responses underpins strategies for breeding heat-resilient cultivars, informed by molecular markers, phenomic screening and agronomic practices that mitigate heat impacts on silique development and seed maturation.
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Heat Stress Impact on Seed Development in Brassica Species publication trend
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Technical terms
Gametophyte development: The formation of male (pollen) and female (ovule) reproductive cells that precedes fertilisation.
Silique: The elongated seed pod characteristic of Brassica species where fertilisation and early seed growth occur.
Transcriptome analysis: Comprehensive profiling of all RNA transcripts in a tissue to identify gene expression changes under stress conditions.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS): Highly reactive molecules produced under stress that can damage proteins, lipids and nucleic acids unless scavenged by antioxidant systems.
References
- Transient heat stress during gametophyte development in Brassica napus reduces subsequent floret fecundity. Plant Stress (2024).
- Transcriptome and Physiological Analysis of Rapeseed Tolerance to Post-Flowering Temperature Increase. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023).
- Transcriptome analysis of thermomorphogenesis in ovules and during early seed development in Brassica napus. BMC Genomics (2023).
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