Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2021, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (2): 218-231.DOI: 10.11983/CBB20141

• SPECIAL TOPICS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research Progress in Seed Development, Dormancy and Germination Regulated by Cytokinin

Songquan Song1,2,*(), Jun Liu2,*(), Hua Yang3, Wenhu Zhang2, Qi Zhang2, Jiadong Gao2   

  1. 1Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
    2Guangdong Provincial Key Lab for Crop Germplasm Resources Preservation and Utilization/Agro-Biological Gene Research Center, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
    3College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
  • Received:2020-08-03 Accepted:2021-01-05 Online:2021-03-01 Published:2021-03-17
  • Contact: Songquan Song,Jun Liu

Abstract: Seed germination is an important stage in the establishment, growth and propagation of plants, and plays a critical role in the life cycle of seed plants. Seed dormancy is formed during development, and reaches its peak at physiological maturity. The phytohormone regulation of seed dormancy and germination may be a highly conserved mechanism in seed plants. Cytokinin (CK) is one of the most important signal molecules in plants, and regulates many aspects of plant growth and development. The bioactive CK levels are controlled by a balance among biosynthesis, activation, deactivation, re-activation and degradation, and seed development, dormancy and germination are regulated by bioactive CK levels and signaling pathways. Here, we mainly summarize the research progresses of CK biosynthesis and catabolism, signaling, and regulation on seed development, dormancy and germination. In addition, we also propose some scientific questions that need further addressed in this field to provide some information for understanding the molecular mechanism of seed development, dormancy and germination regulated by CK.

Key words: cytokinin, metabolism, molecular mechanism, seed dormancy and germination, signaling