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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #311190

Title: Dormancy behaviors and underlying regulatory mechanisms: from perspective of pathways to epigenetic regulation

Author
item Liu, Zongrang
item ZHU, HONG - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item ABBOTT, ALBERT - University Of Kentucky

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/2015
Publication Date: 3/1/2015
Citation: Liu, Z., Zhu, H., Abbott, A. 2015. Dormancy behaviors and underlying regulatory mechanisms: from perspective of pathways to epigenetic regulation. In: Anderson, J.V., editor. Advances in Plant Dormancy. Springer International Publishing Switzerland. p. 75-105.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Temperate perennials exploit dormancy as one strategy to survive long term environmental stresses. As the current trend in global warming continues, many regions are experiencing warmer winters that fail to provide sufficient chilling temperature for dormancy release, impacting fruit tree productivity and plant ecology. Thus, understanding dormancy and its regulation is important for developing breeding strategies to mitigate the impact of rapidly changing global climates. In this chapter, we extensively review the distinct dormancy types in the context of inducing factors. We also examine the different forms or appearance of dormancy in context of plant architecture, growth habit, life cycle and developmental programming. Given that chilling temperature is critical for both dormancy and vernalization, we discuss the dual roles of chilling in the regulation of dormancy release and developmental programming, and its unique properties (e.g. slow action, fixable and additive) relevant to epigenetic regulatory features. In addition, we assess the different flower regulatory pathways and delineate general principles of how vernalization and dormancy hijack, derail and transduce specific pathways to arrest and then release growth and development in response to environmental changes. Finally, we compare and examine how vernalization and dormancy are regulated at the molecular level with particular emphasis on epigenetic modification, and highlight similarities and differences in their regulation, thus, providing a perspective for future dormancy research. The aim of this review is to offer readers a unique insight into the regulation of dormancy, with particular emphasis on regulatory pathways and epigenetic modifications.