Figure 1: Seeds of atabcg31, atabcg30 and atabcg40 germinate faster than those of the corresponding wild type (WT).

(a–d) Seed germination on ½ MS medium without stratification. atabcg31 (a), atabcg30 (c) and atabcg40 (d) mutant seeds germinated faster than the WT, whereas atabcg25 mutant seeds (b) did not. WT seeds collected at the same time were used as the control. Photographs were taken at the start of incubation (0 h) and 48 h later. A representative result out of three independent experiments giving rise to similar results is shown. Each experiment consisted of two or three replicates. Scale bar, 1.25 mm (a), 1 mm (b–d). (e,f) Germination rate of WT seeds compared with that of atabcg mutant seeds on ½ MS medium. Non-stratified (e) or stratified (f) seeds were sowed on ½ MS medium, and germinated seeds were determined based on radicle extrusion. Stratification consisted of pretreatment of seeds for 2 days at 4 °C in the dark. In all experiments, fresh seeds were used, and the sowed seeds were incubated under 16-h light and 8-h dark conditions at 22 °C. Data are mean±s.e.m. of three independent experiments with four technical replicates (N=3, n=4 × 100 seeds). HAS, hours after sowing.