Seed germination is an important life-cycle transition because it determines subsequent plant survival and reproductive success. To detect optimal spatiotemporal conditions for germination, seeds act as sophisticated environmental sensors integrating information such as ambient temperature. Here we show that the delay of germination 1 (DOG1) gene, known for providing dormancy adaptation to distinct environments, determines the optimal temperature for seed germination. By reciprocal gene-swapping experiments between Brassicaceae species we show that the DOG1-mediated dormancy mechanism is conserved. Biomechanical analyses show that this mechanism regulates the material properties of the endosperm, a seed tissue layer acting as germination barrier to control coat dormancy. We found that DOG1 inhibits the expression of gibberellin (GA)-regulated genes encoding cell-wall remodeling proteins in a temperature-dependent manner. Furthermore we demonstrate that DOG1 causes temperature-dependent alterations in the seed GA metabolism. These alterations in hormone metabolism are brought about by the temperature-dependent differential expression of genes encoding key enzymes of the GA biosynthetic pathway. These effects of DOG1 lead to a temperature-dependent control of endosperm weakening and determine the optimal temperature for germination. The conserved DOG1-mediated coat-dormancy mechanism provides a highly adaptable temperature-sensing mechanism to control the timing of germination.

Department of Botany Faculty of Biology University of Osnabrück D 49069 Osnabrück Germany;

Faculty of Biology Institute for Biology 2 Botany Plant Physiology University of Freiburg D 79104 Freiburg Germany; Institute for Phytomedicine Geisenheim University D 65366 Geisenheim Germany;

Laboratory of Growth Regulators Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research Institute of Experimental Botany ASCR and Palacký University CZ 78371 Olomouc Czech Republic; and

Plant Genetics and Cytogenetics Wageningen University NL 6708 Wageningen The Netherlands

School of Biological Sciences Plant Molecular Science and Centre for Systems and Synthetic Biology Royal Holloway University of London Egham Surrey TW20 0EX United Kingdom;

School of Biological Sciences Plant Molecular Science and Centre for Systems and Synthetic Biology Royal Holloway University of London Egham Surrey TW20 0EX United Kingdom; Faculty of Biology Institute for Biology 2 Botany Plant Physiology University of Freiburg D 79104 Freiburg Germany;

School of Biological Sciences Plant Molecular Science and Centre for Systems and Synthetic Biology Royal Holloway University of London Egham Surrey TW20 0EX United Kingdom; Laboratory of Growth Regulators Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research Institute of Experimental Botany ASCR and Palacký University CZ 78371 Olomouc Czech Republic; and

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