Résumé
The seed consists of several layers of specialized cell-types that divide and differentiate following a highly regulated programme in time and space. A cytological approach was undertaken in order to study the histo-differentiation at mid-embryogenesis in Medicago truncatula as a model legume, and in Pisum sativum using serial sections of embedded immature seed. Little published information is available about seed development in Medicago species. The observations from this study revealed a number of distinctive features of Medicago seed development and differentiation. Transfer cells, involved in nutrient transfer to the embryo, were clearly identified in the thin-walled parenchyma of the innermost integument. Histological Schiff–naphthol enabled carbohydrate accumulation to be followed in the different seed compartments, and revealed the storage protein bodies. Non-radioactive mRNA in situ hybridization, was carried out using mRNA probes from two highly expressed genes encoding the major vicilin and legumin A storage protein types. The timing of mRNA expression was related to that of the corresponding proteins already identified.