Seed distribution articles from across Nature Portfolio

Mother plants play an important role in determining the dispersal characteristics of their progeny. Here the authors show that a VEL3 histone deacetylase complex establishes a maternal epigenetic state controlling progeny seed dormancy.

Mechanical dormancy imposed by a hard fruit pericarp prevents premature seed germination. Here, the authors show that the pericarp of Lepidium didymum prevents germination by limiting water uptake and that dormancy can be released by fungal activity that weakens predetermined breaking zones in the fruit coat.

The DOG1 protein is a major regulator of seed dormancy in Arabidopsis. Here, Née et al. provide evidence that DOG1 can interact with the type 2C protein phosphatases AHG1 and AHG3 and that this represents the convergence point of the DOG1-regulated dormancy pathway and signalling by the plant hormone abscisic acid.

A new study shows that three independent mutations in the Sh1 gene, which encodes a YABBY transcription factor, gave rise to the non-shattering seed phenotype in domesticated sorghum. This same gene may have also had a role in the domestication of other cereals, including maize and rice.

Fish travelling through flood waters disperse seeds.