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Dormancy in Plant Seeds

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Dormancy and Resistance in Harsh Environments

Part of the book series: Topics in Current Genetics ((TCG,volume 21))

Abstract

Seed dormancy has been studied intensely over the past decades and, at present, knowledge of this plant trait is at the forefront of plant biology. The main model species is Arabidopsis thaliana, an annual weed, possessing nondeep physiological dormancy. This overview presents the state-of-the-art of seed dormancy research, focusing mainly on physiological and molecular-genetic aspects in this species. It has become clear that, like in many other organisms, the dormancy and stress responses are tightly associated in seeds. The plant hormones abscisic acid and gibberellins play a pivotal role in the acquisition of developmental arrest or repression of metabolic inactivity, respectively. Some attention is given to the overlapping dormancy and stress responses, commonly studied in many other organisms but only marginally in seeds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lab of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Henk W. M. Hilhorst

  2. Warwick HRI, Warwick University, Wellesbourne, Warwick, CV35 9EF, UK

    William E. Finch-Savage

  3. UMR 1191 Molecular Seed Physiology, INRA, 16 Bd Lavoisier, 49045, Angers, France

    Julia Buitink & William Bolingue

  4. Institut fuer Biologie II, Botanik/Pflanzenphysiologie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg, Schaenzlestr. 1, D-79104, Freiburg i. Br., Germany

    Gerhard Leubner-Metzger

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  1. Henk W. M. Hilhorst
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  2. William E. Finch-Savage
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  3. Julia Buitink
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  4. William Bolingue
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  5. Gerhard Leubner-Metzger
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Correspondence to Henk W. M. Hilhorst .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Re, Haifa, 31080, Israel

    Esther Lubzens

  2. Tecnologia Agroalimentaries, Center of Aquaculture, IRTA Institut de Recerca i, Ctra. Poble Nou km 6, San Carlos de la Rapita, 43540, Spain

    Joan Cerda

  3. , Ecosystems, British Antarctic Survey, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, United Kingdom

    Melody Clark

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Hilhorst, H.W.M., Finch-Savage, W.E., Buitink, J., Bolingue, W., Leubner-Metzger, G. (2010). Dormancy in Plant Seeds. In: Lubzens, E., Cerda, J., Clark, M. (eds) Dormancy and Resistance in Harsh Environments. Topics in Current Genetics, vol 21. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12422-8_4

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