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Why is so much time and effort being expended on trying to understand seed germination? The socioeconomic value of seeds is of such overwhelming importance to modern society (over 70% of our food; Bewley and Black, 1994) that a large effort has been expended to elucidate the underlying mechanisms controlling the completion of germination (Bewley, 1997). This is as it should be reflecting, as it does, our continuing dependence on seed germination to produce the next crop. Conversely, the production of high quality seeds as foodstuffs or as germplasm repositories is dependent on the inhibition of precocious germination and the maintenance of anti-microbial defense systems during seed storage. Knowledge of the mechanisms by which germination is regulated would lead to immediate applications for improving establishment speed and uniformity of crop plants in the field, as well as for preventing preharvest sprouting (Han et al., 1996). Such knowledge could also provide new strategies for controlling weed- and invasive-species (Weller et al., 2001). A fundamental understanding of seed germination is becoming increasingly more important as the cost of seeds with which to plant the next crop increases as a percentage of the total cost of crop production. USDA Economic Research Service estimates for 2004 show cotton, maize, and soybean seed costs at 15, 22, and 36% of the total cost of producing the crop (http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/ CostsAndReturns/testpick.htm). Evidently, seed costs, as a percentage of crop production costs, have risen considerably in the last 10 years and this trend will continue as more technology costs are passed on to the farmer in seed prices. Hence, over-sowing to guard against poor germination becomes prohibitively expensive, which will generate a grass roots demand for excellent, uniform seed germination. Meeting this demand requires increasing our understanding of the process of seed germination.
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Bewley, JD. 1997. Seed germination and dormancy. Plant Cell 9: 1055-1066. (http://www. plantcell.org/cgi/reprint/9/7/1055)
Bewley JD, Black M. 1994. Seeds: Physiology of development and germination. Plenum Press, New York, London. pg. 10.
Han F, Ullrich SE, Clancy JA, Jitkov V, Kilian A, Romagosa I. 1996. Verification of barley seed dormancy loci via linked molecular markers. TAG. 92: 87-91.
( http://www.springerlink.com/content/h810410342134m36/?p=e4337e9ad8d0466fa774eb766efc4c86&pi=12)
Weller SC, Bressan RA, Goldsbrough PB, Fredenburg TB, Hasegawa PM. 2001. The effect of genomics on weed management in the 21st century. Weed Sci. 49: 282-289. (http://wssa.allenpress.com/pdfserv/i0043-1745-049-02-0282.)
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