Thus, dormancy in mother plant is associated with
tolerance to adverse environmental conditions (i.e. mainly
dryness) and serves as a key stage between development and
germination. The expression of genes for the biosynthesis of
seed storage proteins (SSPs) precedes that of late embryogenesis
abundant (LEA) genes, which may be involved in the
acquisition of desiccation tolerance [27–29 and reviewed in
28]