Dormancy alleviation in tropical grasses

What is it about?

Dormancy alleviation is an important aspect in (eco)physiological studies concerned with tropical grasses. However, this process is poorly understood. Taking this into account, we asked the following question. Could the dormancy alleviation in diaspores of tropical grasses be driven by an association of ageing, hormonal imbalance and structures remaining of inflorescence? To answer this, we used diaspores of Brachiaria humidicola cv. Tupi as a biological model, an African grass adapted to a wide edaphoclimatic range in Neotropical areas and whose diaspores possess ‘deep dormancy’ when dispersed. I

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Why is it important?

n summary, our finds demonstrate that dormancy alleviation in diaspores of tropical grass species is a synergic phenomenon driven by a crosstalk of age, hormonal imbalance and structures remaining of inflorescence covering caryopses since this interaction acts on the dynamics of germination and early plant development. Apart from that, we demonstrate that (i) the germination spreading is a maternal survival mechanism of the specimen, which has repercussions on the occupational aggressiveness of the species; (ii) the structures remaining of inflorescence covering caryopses are the main modulator of embryo development. These structures control the after-ripening process, which is modelled by some molecular factor, probably PIL5. Here, we also highlight that it is necessary to review the concepts about dormancy of dispersal units in grass species.

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