Research Article A Novel Method to Overcome Coat-Imposed Seed Dormancy in Lupinus albus L. and Trifolium pratense L. Iskender Tiryaki 1 and Mustafa Topu 2 1 Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Terzioglu Campus, 17020 Canakkale, Turkey 2 Kahramanmaras Anadolu O˘ gretmen Lisesi, 46100 Kahramanmaras, Turkey Correspondence should be addressed to Iskender Tiryaki; itiryaki@comu.edu.tr Received 7 May 2014; Revised 18 July 2014; Accepted 19 July 2014; Published 3 August 2014 Academic Editor: Bhagirath S. Chauhan Copyright © 2014 I. Tiryaki and M. Topu. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. We have developed a novel method to overcome coat-imposed seed dormancy in legume plants. Seeds of Lupinus albus L. and Trifolium pratense L. were stored in a freezer at −80 ∘ C for a period of time and then immediately treated with or without hot water at 90 ∘ C for 5 seconds. Germination tests were carried out in darkness at 20±1.0 ∘ C with four replications in a completely randomized design. Final germination percentage (FGP), germination rate, and synchrony of seeds were evaluated. Te results showed that new approach of freeze-thaw scarifcation provided high percentage of germinations in white lupin (84.16%) and red clover (74.50%) seeds while control seeds had FGPs of 3.3% and 26.0%, respectively. Te immediate thawing of frozen seeds in hot water for 5 seconds was found not only an efective and reliable but also the quickest seed treatment method to prevail against coat-imposed seed dormancy in legume species and may become operationally applicable to other plant species. 1. Introduction Dormant seeds which are unable to germinate under favourable environmental conditions remain hard and unger- minated for a period of time [1]. However, the mechanisms of seed dormancy are still to be elucidated and, therefore, the classifcation of the diferent types of dormancy is entirely based on its expression under various conditions [1–4]. Te coat-imposed seed dormancy (hardseededness) is due to either the impermeability of the coat to water and/or gases, the mechanical prevention of radicle extension, or the seed coat preventing inhibitory substances from leaving the embryo or by supplying inhibitors to the embryo [5, 6]. Water impermeable testa prevents the entry of water into seed and seed remains hard even when appropriate moisture and temperature conditions are provided [5]. Te presence of a hard and impermeable seed coat is regarded as a widespread cause of seed dormancy in several important legume species such as in lentil [7], faba bean [8], common bean [9], soybean [10, 11], cowpea [12], common vetch [13], alfalfa and clover [14–16], and in some other important plant families such as Geraniaceae (Pelargonium sp.) [17], Oleaceae (Fraxinus sp.) [18], and Malvaceae (Abelmoschus sp.) [19]. Although hard seed coat improves the survival of seeds in the soil especially in adverse environmental conditions and helps to avoid extinction of species in nature, it may prevent use of plant cultivars or wild-type relatives for agricultural or breeding purposes [20, 21]. Tere are, however, several factors or events that reduce or partially overcome coat-imposed seed dormancy in which the seed coat is usually disrupted by using mechanical or chemical applications such as nicking or sandpaper, acid scarifcation, or heat treatments such as boiling water soak [13, 22, 23]. Te objective of the present study was to develop an alternative and efective as well as reliable seed treatment method to defeat coat-imposed seed dormancy in Fabaceae. 2. Material and Methods 2.1. Material. Lupinus albus L. (white lupin) and Trifolium pratense L. (red clover) seeds were used in this study. White lupin seeds were collected from natural fora of Aksu Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Botany Volume 2014, Article ID 647469, 6 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/647469