Seed Dormancy: Genetics of Dormancy

Seed dormancy causes a delay of germination until the arrival of a favorable growth season and therefore has a substantial influence on plant fitness. Genetic factors as well as environmental cues control dormancy. A variety of genetic and molecular biological approaches have been used to identify genetic components regulating seed dormancy. Those approaches revealed the importance of plant hormones abscisic acid and gibberellin, their biosynthesis, and signaling as well as upstream regulatory components, in the regulation of dormancy and germination. Besides major regulatory transcription factors, chromatin remodeling factors have also been implicated in the control of seed dormancy. Moreover, genes very specifically involved in the natural variation of seed dormancy have been discovered recently. Here we give an overview of our present understanding of the molecular mechanisms that control seed dormancy and the approaches used to identify them.