Endoreduplication in plant organogenesis: a mean to boost fruit growth.

Endoreduplication is the major source of somatic endopolyploidy in higher plants, leading to variation in cell ploidy levels due to iterative rounds of DNA synthesis in the absence of mitosis. Despite its ubiquitous occurrence in many plant organs, tissues and cells, the physiological meaning of endoreduplication is not fully understood, although several roles during plant development have been proposed, mostly related to cell growth, cell differentiation and specialization via transcriptional and metabolic reprogramming. Here we review the recent advances in the knowledge of the molecular mechanisms and cellular characteristics of endoreduplicated cells, and provide an overview of the multi-scale effects of endoreduplication on supporting growth in plant development. Finally, the effects of endoreduplication in fruit development are discussed, since during fruit organogenesis, endoreduplication is highly prominent where it acts as a morphogenetic factor supporting rapid fruit growth as illustrated with case of the fleshy fruit model tomato (Solanum lycopersicum).