Perennial plants use bud dormancy as a strategy to survive stressful environments, such as cold temperatures during winter. This strategy is dependent on the ability of the dormant bud to track the length of winter...
Plants respond not only to the environment in which they find themselves, but also to that of their parents. The combination of within- and trans-generational phenotypic plasticity regulates plant development. The light...
In the cell cycle, the G1 phase can be like a prison, where plant cells are arrested, unable to divide. These cells have been arrested for different reasons, serving sentences of different lengths. So how and why did...
This review presents the latest findings to provide insight into the molecular mechanisms that underlie how photoperiodic and temperature signals regulate seasonal growth in trees.
Evaluating genetic and environmental effects upon sweet cherry cultivars differing in seasonal duration and fruit size, Gibeau et al. employ photographic measurements to apply a framework of biological time indices...
Endemic species in biodiversity hotspots are often dependent on edaphic conditions and germination strategies that allow them to persist under climatically variable conditions. Torres-Martinez et al. tested whether...
Should seeds respond to their parents’ environments or their own? Leverett et al. hypothesize that germination would respond more strongly to a post-dispersal vegetative canopy than a pre-dispersal canopy, because a...
You can’t just plant a seed and expect it to grow. Chahtane et al. have recently published a review in the Journal of Experimental Botany (JXB) “Primary seed dormancy: a temporally multilayered riddle...
Loss of seed viability has been associated with deteriorative processes that are partly caused by oxidative damage. The breaking of dormancy, a seed trait that prevents germination in unfavourable seasons, has also been...
Moringa oleifera, or miracle tree, is known in many parts of the world for its multiple uses as an agroforestry crop. However, seeds of this species lose their viability within 6 to 12 months of harvest, and thus...