Understanding seed longevity in weeds

The project will investigate the underlying mechanisms that control seed longevity and develop cost-effective protocols for assessing seed quality (viability, germination, vigour) with a view to understanding variation in these traits in soil vs seed banks, within and between species.
Objectives
1- Identification of putative regulators of DNA repair mechanisms related to seed dormancy, germination and longevity.
Focus will be on Setaria and Amaranthus species. Genes involved in DNA repair mechanisms and the control of dormancy, germination and longevity in other species, will be identified and screened to identify orthologues of these genes as candidates for further investigation.
2 - Evaluation of seed batch variability.
The variability in seed quality and vigour across different seed batches stored for various lengths of time in different ways will be evaluated to assess changes in seed over time.
3 - Evaluation of storage parameters affecting seed quality and longevity.
The effect of different temperature and relative humidity conditions on seed quality during storage will be assessed and compared with what the fate of the seeds would be in the soil bank. Tests will be developed for the selected species under study in order to evaluate the long-term effect of the storage environment.
4 - Evaluation of cost-effective methods for assessing and monitoring seed quality in diverse weed species.
The knowledge generated from Objectives 2 and 3 will allow identification of differences and similarities in the studied species that could also be common across wider groups of important weeds. This will enable the development and evaluation of cost-effective methods for assessing seed quality for a wide range of weed species.
5 - Optimisation of procedures for handling and storing weed seeds at the Jealott's Hill Seed Bank.