Hormonal Control of Weed Seed Germination

Freshly-harvested seeds of several common weeds showed little or no promotion of germination by light. However, after burial for 6 months, germination becomes entirely dependent on exposure to light. Red light promoted the germination of the buried seeds, and this promotion was reversed by far-red light, indicating phytochrome involvement. Freshly-harvested seeds were made light-requiring by treatment with mannitol. The germination of these light-requiring seeds was promoted by red light, gibberellic acid (GA), acetylcholine (ACh), and adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cyclic AMP). The phytochrome response may trigger ACh synthesis which causes the release of GA from a bound form and/or GA synthesis which enhances the production of cyclic AMP which initiates the germination response.