![]() In the active pool, individuals can be gained through reproduction and lost through mortality. In this example, the sizes of the active and dormant pools are made up of an equal number of individuals ( N = 70) belonging to different classes (colored squares), which may represent genotypes within a population or species within a community. As an example of convergent evolution, seed banking represents a common solution to some of the major challenges faced by nearly all forms of life. Despite their prevalence across seemingly disparate systems and scales, seed banks are governed by a shared set of dormancy-related attributes and processes that allow individuals to disperse in time (Fig. The principles of dormancy and seed banks have even been extended to stem-cell dynamics 22, tumor persistence 23, wound healing 24, immune functioning 25, and neural activity of brains 26. For example, dormancy is achieved via latency in viruses 11, sporulation by bacteria and fungi 12, cyst formation among protists 13, estivation by amphibians 14, dauer stages by worms 15, cryptobiosis in rotifers 16, diapause by insects 17, torpor in birds 18, quiescence in fish 19, delayed blastocyst formation among marsupials 20, and hibernation in mammals 21. In today’s inventory of biodiversity, dormancy is integrated into diverse modes of survival and reproduction across domains of life (Fig. They are created when individuals transition into a dormant state, a process that has independently evolved numerous times throughout Earth’s history and is even considered in some origins-of-life models 9, 10. ![]() Yet, seed banks are by no means restricted to the world of plants. Haney and the illustration is courtesy of J. C Among many groups of microorganisms, including gut bacteria like Bacteroides, individuals can enter and exit from a dormant state independent of reproduction and without the need of generating physical resting structures. When stressed, some species produce males, who in turn fertilize females, leading to the production of dormant resting stages (ephippia) that can persist for extended periods of time in aquatic sediments. B Daphnia is a planktonic crustacean with parthenogenic reproduction, where females generate offspring without fertilization. A well-recognized example of bet-hedging, some fraction of these seeds will delay germination despite optimal conditions. Inspired by observations in natural systems, seed-banking vaults have been engineered around the world to help preserve biodiversity and ensure food security through the long-term storage of rare plant cultivars that are at risk of extinction owing to rising temperatures, disease outbreaks, and other natural disasters 8.Ī Annual plants, like Lunaria, produce seeds at the end of a growing season, which are deposited into the soil. Since then, a rich body of theoretical, comparative, and experimental work has provided critical insight into the stabilizing role of seed banks for the diversity and eco-evolutionary dynamics of plant populations and communities 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. This led him to ponder the ways in which animals might promote the movement of dormant propagules, and how this in turn might affect the geographic distribution of species 2. Much later, Darwin’s curiosity was piqued by seed banks when more than 500 types of plants germinated from only three tablespoons of mud collected from the margins of an English pond. Thousands of years ago, major transformations in culture and society arose when humans began to harness the diversity and longevity of plant seeds 1. Almost all biological entities can generate a seed bank, but perhaps the most iconic and well-studied examples come from plants (Fig. Collectively, the genetic, phenotypic, and functional diversity of these dormant individuals can influence the behavior of biological systems in important and wide-ranging ways. Seed banks are reservoirs of metabolically inactive individuals.
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