Endosperm rupture as a model for lateral root emergence in Arabidopsis?

Endosperm rupture and lateral root emergence are biological processes involving organ emergence out of cellular layers. We review here the main similarities and differences between these two developmental processes and discuss the possibility that both could be associated with auxin-dependent regulation of cell wall remodelling gene expression. We speculate that endosperm rupture may serve as a model system for the study of certain aspects of lateral root emergence.