Editing Germination (section)

===Repair of DNA damage===

Seed quality deteriorates with age, and this is associated with accumulation of genome damage.<ref name="pmid25750428">{{cite journal | vauthors = Waterworth WM, Bray CM, West CE | title = The importance of safeguarding genome integrity in germination and seed longevity | journal = Journal of Experimental Botany | volume = 66 | issue = 12 | pages = 3549–58 | date = June 2015 | pmid = 25750428 | doi = 10.1093/jxb/erv080 | doi-access = free }}</ref> During germination, [[DNA repair|repair]] processes are activated to deal with accumulated [[DNA damage (naturally occurring)|DNA damage]].<ref name="pmid11321247">{{cite journal | vauthors = Koppen G, Verschaeve L | title = The alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis/comet assay: a way to study DNA repair in radicle cells of germinating Vicia faba | journal = Folia Biologica | volume = 47 | issue = 2 | pages = 50–4 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11321247 }}</ref> In particular, single- and double-strand breaks in DNA can be repaired.<ref name="pmid20584150">{{cite journal | vauthors = Waterworth WM, Masnavi G, Bhardwaj RM, Jiang Q, Bray CM, West CE | title = A plant DNA ligase is an important determinant of seed longevity | journal = The Plant Journal | volume = 63 | issue = 5 | pages = 848–60 | date = September 2010 | pmid = 20584150 | doi = 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2010.04285.x | doi-access = free }}</ref> The DNA damage checkpoint kinase [[ATM serine/threonine kinase|ATM]] has a major role in integrating progression through germination with repair responses to the DNA damages accumulated by the aged seed.<ref name="pmid27503884">{{cite journal | vauthors = Waterworth WM, Footitt S, Bray CM, Finch-Savage WE, West CE | title = DNA damage checkpoint kinase ATM regulates germination and maintains genome stability in seeds | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 113 | issue = 34 | pages = 9647–52 | date = August 2016 | pmid = 27503884 | pmc = 5003248 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1608829113 | bibcode = 2016PNAS..113.9647W | doi-access = free }}</ref>