New insights into the earliest events of seed germination

Plant seeds may strike the casual observer as unspectacular - but they have properties that are nothing short of superpowers. In a dry state they can store their energy for years and then suddenly release it for germination when environmental conditions are favourable. One striking example is the "super bloom" in the Death Valley National Park, when seeds that have endured the dry and hot desert for decades suddenly germinate at rainfall followed by a rare and spectacular desert bloom several months later. Seeds conserve a fully formed embryo, which only continues growing when conditions are right for it to do so. This may be the case only years - or in more extreme cases even centuries - later. Seed germination is controlled by several plant hormones, which are researched intensely. However, not much was known about the processes that need to take place to allow the hormones to function.