Induction of extreme light sensitivity in buried weed seeds and its role in the perception of soil cultivations

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Abstract
Light, probably acting through the photo‐receptor phytochrome, promotes germination of weed seeds when the soil is disturbed by tillage operations. A short period of burial is shown to induce an enormous ∼10000‐fold increase in light sensitivity in the seeds of the arable weed Datura ferox which is interpreted as a natural transition to the ‘very‐low‐fluence’ mode of phytochrome action. Field experiments indicated that germination of buried seeds may be triggered by millisecond‐exposures to sunlight and suggested a key role for the process of sensitization in the mechanisms whereby light requiring seeds detect the occurrence of soil cultivation events in arable lands.