Plant embryos are generated and develop in a stable and well-protected microenvironment surrounded by maternal tissue， which is vital for embryogenesis. However， the signaling mechanisms responsible for maternal tissue-to-proembryo communication are not well understood. Here， we report a pathway for maternal tissue-to-proembryo communication. We identify a DELLA protein， NtCRF1 (NtCYS regulative factor 1)， which regulates suspensor programmed cell death (PCD). NtCRF1 can bind to the promoter of NtCYS and regulate the suspensor PCD-switch module NtCYS-NtCP14 in response to gibberellin (GA). We confirm that GA， as a primary signal triggering suspensor PCD， is generated in the micropylar endothelium by the transient activation of NtGA3oxs in the maternal tissue. Thus， we propose that GA is a maternal-to-proembryo communication signal that is decoded in the proembryo by a GID1-CRF1-CYS-CP14 signaling cascade. Using this mode of communication， maternal tissue precisely controls the embryonic suspensor PCD and is able to nurse the proembryo in a stage-dependent manner.