A game of hide and peek

A continuous cuticle is required for normal development of Arabidopsis embryos. Despite this barrier, embryos remain sensitive to outside signals. In this issue of Developmental Cell, De Giorgi et al. show that the embryonic cuticle is relatively permeable and becomes sealed during germination in response to peptide signaling.

Automated summary

A continuous cuticle is needed for normal development of Arabidopsis embryos, although the cuticle is relatively permeable and responds to peptide signaling by sealing during germination.