Photoperiod throughout the maternal life cycle influences seed germination in Arabidopsis thaliana, but seed photoperiod does not

Premise of the study: Plants adjust their phenology in response to seasonal cues experienced both by their parents and by themselves, and coordinating responses to these cues is necessary for expressing adaptive phenology. We investigated how cues are integrated across time to influence an important progeny phenotype, i.e., seed germination.

Methods: We used Arabidopsis thaliana to investigate how the photoperiod experienced by maternal parents and by progeny influences seed germination. We examined when maternal photoperiod effects on germination are imposed and how long they persist in progeny.

Key results: The photoperiod experienced by maternal plants more strongly influenced germination than the photoperiod experienced during seed imbibition. In addition, the photoperiod experienced at the prereproductive stage frequently influenced germination as strongly as that experienced during reproduction. In general, seeds from plants grown under short days had higher seed germination...