Hormone cross-talk in seed dormancy

The choice to become dormant versus continuing to grow is observed in a variety of organisms in response to specific developmental and environmental signals. In higher plants this is most obvious during both the establishment and breaking of seed dormancy. With the advent of molecular genetic analysis, particularly in Arabidopsis, genes involved in the establishment and breaking of seed dormancy have been identified. Genetic analysis suggests a web of hormone-derived information is required in the regulation of these processes. In this review we focus on examples of where hormones, and in particular cross-talk between hormones, is used to regulate both the establishment and release of seed dormancy. The use of multiple hormones that overlap in their control of specific developmental programs allows seeds to be flexible in making decisions in response to specific developmental and environmental cues.