Parental and Environmental Control of Seed Dormancy in Arabidopsis thaliana

Seed dormancy-the absence of seed germination under favorable germination conditions-is a plant trait that evolved to enhance seedling survival by avoiding germination under unsuitable environmental conditions. In Arabidopsis, dormancy levels are influenced by the seed coat composition, while the endosperm is essential to repress seed germination of dormant seeds upon their imbibition. Recent research has shown that the mother plant modulates its progeny seed dormancy in response to seasonal temperature changes by changing specific aspects of seed coat and endosperm development. This process involves genomic imprinting by means of epigenetic marks deposited in the seed progeny and regulators previously known to regulate flowering time. This review discusses and summarizes these discoveries and provides an update on our present understanding of the role of DOG1 and abscisic acid, two key contributors to dormancy.