Editing Endosperm (section)

==Cereal grains==
[[Image:Wheat-kernel nutrition.png|300px|right]]
[[Cereal]] crops are grown for their edible [[fruit]] (grains or [[caryopsis|caryopses]]), which are primarily endosperm. In the caryopsis, the thin fruit wall is fused to the seed coat. Therefore, the nutritious part of the grain is the seed and its endosperm. In some cases (e.g. wheat, rice) the endosperm is selectively retained in food processing (commonly called [[Flour|white flour]]), and the embryo ([[Cereal germ|germ]]) and seed coat ([[bran]]) removed. The processed grain has a lower quality of nutrition. Endosperm thus has an important role within the human diet worldwide.

The [[aleurone]] is the outer layer of endosperm cells, present in all small grains and retained in many dicots with transient endosperm. The cereal aleurone functions for both storage and digestion. During germination, it secretes the [[amylase]] enzyme that breaks down endosperm starch into sugars to nourish the growing seedling.<ref name="pmid21109580">{{cite journal | vauthors = Becraft PW, Yi G | title = Regulation of aleurone development in cereal grains | journal = Journal of Experimental Botany | volume = 62 | issue = 5 | pages = 1669–75 | date = March 2011 | pmid = 21109580 | doi = 10.1093/jxb/erq372 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="pmid23801534">{{cite journal | vauthors = Becraft PW, Gutierrez-Marcos J | title = Endosperm development: dynamic processes and cellular innovations underlying sibling altruism | journal = Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Developmental Biology | volume = 1 | issue = 4 | pages = 579–93 | date = 2012 | pmid = 23801534 | doi = 10.1002/wdev.31 | s2cid = 5752973 }}</ref>