RESUMO
In several plant tissues, programmed cell death (PCD) is mediated by the combined action of cysteine peptidases, namely KDEL-tailed cysteine peptidases (KDEL-CysEP) and vacuolar processing enzymes (VPE). Here, we performed a search of the draft genome of Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) and identified 2 genes for KDEL-CysEP (Jc-CysEP1 and Jc-CysEP2) and 3 genes for VPE (Jc-ßVPE, Jc-γVPE and Jc-δVPE) and determined the expression patterns of these genes by RT-qPCR in integument and cellular endosperm of seeds collected at seven different developmental stages. We were able to demonstrate that the expression of Jc-CysEP1, Jc-CysEP2, Jc-ßVPE and Jc-γVPE proceeded rapidly from Stage IV, with Jc-CysEP2 displaying the highest relative expression; expression of Jc-δVPE could not be detected in any of the tissues/developmental stages analyzed. Additionally, we showed that the expression pattern of these peptidases correlates with anatomical changes in integument and cellular endosperm, thus suggesting a role for both classes of peptidases in PCD and in protein processing, both of which occur simultaneously in each of these tissues.