Regulation of Seed Dormancy and Germination Mechanisms in a Changing Environment

Abstract

Environmental conditions are the basis of plant reproduction and are the critical factors controlling seed dormancy and germination. Global climate change is currently affecting environmental conditions and changing the reproduction of plants from seeds. Disturbances in germination will cause disturbances in the diversity of plant communities. Models developed for climate change scenarios show that some species will face a significant decrease in suitable habitat area. Dormancy is an adaptive mechanism that affects the probability of survival of a species. The ability of seeds of many plant species to survive until dormancy recedes and meet the requirements for germination is an adaptive strategy that can act as a buffer against the negative effects of environmental heterogeneity. The influence of temperature and humidity on seed dormancy status underlines the need to understand how changing environmental conditions will affect seed germination patterns. Knowledge of these processes is important for understanding plant evolution and adaptation to changes in the habitat. The network of genes controlling seed dormancy under the influence of environmental conditions is not fully characterized. Integrating research techniques from different disciplines of biology could aid understanding of the mechanisms of the processes controlling seed germination. Transcriptomics, proteomics, epigenetics, and other fields provide researchers with new opportunities to understand the many processes of plant life. This paper focuses on presenting the adaptation mechanism of seed dormancy and germination to the various environments, with emphasis on their prospective roles in adaptation to the changing climate.

Keywords: adaptation; climate change; gene expression; plasticity; reproduction.

Figure 1

Environmental regulation of plant seed dormancy and germination. Seed germination is dependent on environmental conditions acting during maturation (maternal effect) as well as during storage (soil seed bank). Climate change can cause disturbances in the seed germination if the history of species (genetics) as well as the present (ecology) will not match. Physiological and molecular factors were involved in this regulation. ABA-hypersensitive Germination 3 (AHG3), abscisic Acid (ABA), Apetala1 (AP1), Cbl-Interacting Protein Kinase 23 (CIPK23), Curly Leaf (CLF), Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenase (CYP707A2), Delay OF Germination 1 (DOG1), Flowering Locus T (FLT), Flowering Locus C (FLC), Giberellic Acid (GA), Gibberellin 20-Oxidase 1 (GA20ox1), Histone Deacetylase 6 (HDA6), Kryptonite (KYP/SUVH4), Mother OF Flowering Time (MFT), Nitrite Reductase 1 (NRT1.1), Pickle (PKL), Phytochrome A (PHYA), Repressor OF Silencing1 (ROS1), Suppressor of Overexpression of Constans 1 (SOC1).