Dormancy in plants

Dormancy is a strategy of higher plants to survive adverse conditions by pausing growth and development, which can occur in different organs like seeds and buds. Dormancy is controlled both by genetic and environmental factors and most of our knowledge about its regulation has been obtained by studying seeds. Seed dormancy is an important adaptive trait in wild plants and has been under negative selection during domestication. The plant hormone abscisic acid has been shown to play a crucial role in the establishment and maintenance of dormancy, whereas gibberellins promote germination. Additional regulators include reactive oxygen species and epigenetic modifications. Large differences in seed dormancy have been found within species and the identification of the underlying genes revealed several novel genes that specifically regulate dormancy. Key Concepts Dormancy allows plants to hold life when conditions do not favour growth. Dormancy is one of the main determinants of timing in the plant life cycle. Dormancy is an adaptive trait with strong variation between and within plant species. Dormancy is regulated both by (epi)genetic and environmental factors. The plant hormone abscisic acid has a crucial role in the establishment and maintenance of dormancy. Specific dormancy regulators show haplotype variation in nature. Keywords: adaptation; after-ripening; DELAY OF GERMINATION 1; domestication; dormancy; dormancy cycling; environment; epigenetic factors; plant hormones