Research Progress in Seed Germination and Its Control
Most flowering plants reproduce through sexual breeding and seed production.The success of seed germination and the establishment of a normal seedling determinate the propagation and survival of plant species.Seed germination is the most critical and flimsy phase in plant life cycle because of its high vulnerability to injury,disease and environmental stress,which are very important especially for annual and biannual plant species.Seed germination is a complex and multistep process during which the quiescent dry seeds quickly recover the metabolic activity,complete essential cellular events for the embryo to emerge from surrounding structures,and prepare for subsequent seedling growth.In the present paper,the recent research progress in seed germination and its control is reviewed,mainly including the important physiological events during germination,the protein synthesis,posttranslational modification and proteome associated with seed germination,and regulation of phytohormone on seed germination.Furthermore,we have also proposed an energy stimulating hypothesis for seed germination,which provides a new idea for decreasing the pre-harvest sprouting occurred in seed and foodstuff production of cereal crops and answering two fundamental questions in botany,agronomy,and horticulture:how does the embryo emerge from its surrounding structures to complete germination and how is embryo emergence blocked so that seeds can be maintained in the dormant state?
Main events of germinationPhytohormoneprotein synthesis and posttranslational modificationProteomeRegulation of germinationSeed germination