Seed germination and dormancy are complex phenomena that are controlled by many genes and environmental factors. Such genes are indicated by phytohormones that interact with each other, and may cause dormancy or promote seed germination. The objective of this study was to investigate gene expression associated with the biosynthetic pathways of abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellic acid (GA), and eth...

Cold stratification is a requirement for seed dormancy breaking in many species, and thus it is one of the important factors for the regulation of timing of germination. However, few studies have examined the influence of various environmental conditions during cold stratification on subsequent germination, and no study has compared such effects on the performance of dormant versus non-dormant ...

Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) is a weed broadly found in fields cultivated with wheat and barley crops. Seed inputs into the soil before harvesting winter crops increase seed bank, ensuring survival. This study evaluated persistence of seeds subjected to burial depths over time. Experiments were carried out field for two years randomized block experimental design four repetitions. ...

Freshly harvested sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seeds are considered to be dormant because they fail to germinate at relatively low temperatures (10 degrees C). This dormancy results mainly from an embryo dormancy and disappears during dry storage. Although endogenous ethylene is known to be involved in sunflower seed alleviation of dormancy, little attention had been paid to the possible ro...

Untimely rains in wheat fields during harvest season can cause pre-harvest sprouting (PHS), which deteriorates the yield and quality of wheat crop. Metabolic homeostasis of the embryo plays a role in seed dormancy, determining the status of the maturing grains either as dormant (PHS-tolerant) or non-dormant (PHS-susceptible). Very little is known for direct measurements of global metabolites in...

When dormant sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana L.) seeds were imbibed at 5 degrees C, they showed a rapid increase in O(2) uptake, ATP level, and moisture content during the first 4 days. This was followed by a plateau phase until 60 days, after which a second significant increase in all three features occurred as dormancy was broken. During the plateau phase, conventional CN-sensitive respiration ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Pathogen-seed interactions may involve a race for seed resources, so that seeds that germinate more quickly, mobilizing reserves, will be more likely to escape seed death than slow-germinating seeds. This race-for-survival hypothesis was tested for the North American seed pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda on seeds of the annual grass Bromus tectorum, an invasive plant in Nort...