Feedback regulation of COOLAIR expression controls seed dormancy and flowering time

Abstract

Controls on seed dormancy Herbivores and an inopportune cold snap can destroy fragile plant seedlings. Plants control the dormancy of their seeds in anticipation of more favorable growth conditions. Chen and Penfield analyzed the molecular controls on seed dormancy in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Two genes and an antisense RNA, known from the process of vernalization, integrate ambient temperature to control seed dormancy via their opposing configurations. Science , this issue p. 1014