PubMed · 2026-04-16
Researchers tracked the precise hormonal and chemical changes inside peony seeds during stratification, revealing exactly how ABA (a dormancy-keeping hormone) fades while growth-promoting hormones rise, unlocking germination. This gives growers a molecular roadmap for why peonies need cold treatment before they'll sprout.
The dormancy hormone ABA crashed from 72.54 ng/g to just 1.49 ng/g during cold stratification, while the growth hormone IAA skyrocketed over 16-fold from 4.32 to 70.09 ng/g.
Starch reserves were nearly halved (40.13% to 15.34%) and fructose dropped by two-thirds (22.34% to 7.31%) as the seed mobilized energy for germination.
Transcriptomic analysis identified 83,082 differentially expressed genes across dormancy-release stages, with three key regulatory gene networks (black, cyan, turquoise modules) governing hormone signaling and nutrient breakdown.
