Genes interacting with seed developmental environments control primary dormancy. To understand how a multigenic system evolved to adapt to the changing environments in weedy rice, we evaluated genetic components of three dormancy QTL in a synchronized nondormant genetic background. Two genetically identical populations segregating for qSD1, qSD7-1, and qSD12 were grown under greenhouse and natu...

Seed dormancy is a key adaptive trait in plants responsible for the soil seed bank. The long established hormone-balance theory describes the antagonistic roles of the dormancy promoting plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA), and the germination promoting hormone gibberellin (GA) in dormancy control. Light, temperature, and other dormancy-breaking signals function to modulate the synthesis and perc...

Environmental conditions during seed maturation influence germination, but the genetic basis of maternal environmental effects on germination is virtually unknown. Using single and multiple mutants of phytochromes, it is shown here that different phytochromes contributed to germination differently, depending on seed-maturation conditions. Arabidopsis thaliana wild-type seeds that were matured u...

In this study, we investigated the genetic basis of seed shattering and dormancy in Hokuriku 193 and bred an NIL improved these traits. Analysis of an F3 population from Hokuriku 193 × Koshihikari revealed a general correspondence between seed shattering and genotypes at the qSH1 locus, suggesting a strong influence of this locus on the seed shattering in Hokuriku 193. An F2 population from [ms...

Physical dormancy of seed is an adaptive trait that widely exists in higher plants. This kind of dormancy is caused by a water-impermeable layer that blocks water and oxygen from the surrounding environment and keeps embryos in a viable status for a long time. Most of the work on hardseededness has focused on morphological structure and phenolic content of seed coat. The molecular mechanism und...

Dormancy inhibits seed and bud growth of perennial plants until the environmental conditions are optimal for survival. Previous studies indicated that certain co-regulation pathways exist in seed and bud dormancy. In our study, we found that seed and bud dormancy are similar to some extent but show different reactions to chemical treatments that induce breaking of dormancy. Whether the abscisic...

Seed performance after dispersal is highly dependent on parental environmental cues, especially during seed formation and maturation. Here we examine which environmental factors are the most dominant in this respect and whether their effects are dependent on the genotypes under investigation. We studied the influence of light intensity, photoperiod, temperature, nitrate, and phosphate during se...

The transition from dormancy to germination in seeds is a key physiological process during the lifecycle of plants. Abscisic acid (ABA) is the sole plant hormone known to maintain seed dormancy; it acts through a gene expression network involving the transcription factor ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE 3 (ABI3). However, whether other phytohormone pathways function in the maintenance of seed dormancy...

to study seed dormancy and the after-ripening period in barley genotypes (57 dutch genotypes and two iranian cultivars (gorgan and valfair)), an experiment of randomized complete block design (two replications) was conducted at the research farm of collage of agriculture and natural resources, university of tehran in 2004-2005. in the growing stage of zgs92, panicle was collected. the percentag...

       Seed dormancy has an important role in resistance and survival mechanisms of plants. Finding of some information about the range of primary dormancy and effective factors in dormancy breaking and optimal conditions of seed germination are necessary for weed control and other research purposes.  In this research, the seeds of 10 species of grass weeds in Tehran province fields (Echinocloa...