Holotomography of Arabidopsis seeds

Dormancy is a trait that prevents germination upon seed imbibition with water. Remarkably, however, while remaining dry, seeds become non-dormant over time, therefore enabling germination. Dormancy levels are defined as the amount of dry after-ripening time required to lose dormancy. Hence, a physiological process must take place in the dry seed state to govern this transition during dry after-ripening. This transition is thought to involve accumulation of oxidative events in dry seeds. Arabidopsis seeds from different ecotypes and grown in different environmental conditions (associated with distinct dormancy levels) will be imaged using nano-holotomography at ID16-A, possibly linking structural features, such as internal air spaces, with dormancy levels.