Seeds play a crucial role on species persistence among ages. This reproductive structures resulting from the sexual reproduction in spermatophytes are fragile elements that guarantee species survivance, genetic variability, and species expansion.
After seed rain, seeds can resist buried in the soil for several years. Seeds from seed dormancy species await for the optimal environmental conditions. Oxidative stress is a central element on seed longevity, the dormancy break, and the germination process. The study of antioxidant systems and pro-oxidants such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) may become useful when trying to describe those processes, but also their importance to the ecosystem composition in a changing world.
Oxidative stress markers and aging are currently being studied aiming to understand the biological processes occurring in seed banks, with an emphasis on the study of the ecophysiology of natural seed banks in Mediterranean plants.
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