Fig. 3
The promotional effect of fungal activity on the germination kinetics of Lepidium didymum fruit valves. a Time course of visible germination of ‘untreated’ (fungi) compared to ‘surface-sterilised’ (no fungi) fruit valves. Note that the promotional effect on pericarp rupture was also evident when surface-sterilised fruit valves were re-inoculated with the fungi. The germination kinetics of extracted seeds was not affected by the fungi, nor were the phase-II water content, seed viability or seedling growth (Supplementary Figs. 2 and 4). Mean values ± SE (N = 3 × 50) of accession KM2423 at standard conditions. The time for the pericarp biomechanics (Fig. 5) is indicated (pink arrow). b Mean values ± SE of the effect of fungi on the germination of fruit valves and extracted seeds from ten independent L. didymum accessions. The individual time courses are presented in Supplementary Fig. 3 and the origin of the ten accessions is listed in Supplementary Table 1
