Fruit fracture biomechanics and the release of Lepidium didymum pericarp-imposed mechanical dormancy by fungi

Mechanical dormancy imposed by a hard fruit pericarp prevents premature seed germination. Here, the authors show that the pericarp of Lepidium didymum prevents germination by limiting water uptake and that dormancy can be released by fungal activity that weakens predetermined breaking zones in the f...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Katja Sperber, Tina Steinbrecher, Kai Graeber, Gwydion Scherer, Simon Clausing, Nils Wiegand, James E. Hourston, Rainer Kurre, Gerhard Leubner-Metzger, Klaus Mummenhoff
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2017-11-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02051-9