Looks like my question is answered in paragraphs 7 and 8. --Lee Poulsen Pasadena area, California, USDA Zone 9-10 ----------------------------------------------------- http://theaustralian.news.com.au/common/… 0,5744,10082576%255E30417,00.html Secret of seed growth all smoke and molecules By Belinda Hickman 09jul04 AUSTRALIAN scientists have beaten three overseas research groups to identify one of biology's holy grails - the molecule in smoke that makes plant seeds germinate after bushfires. A team of researchers from Perth's Kings Park botanical gardens, the University of Western Australia and Murdoch University will today announce in the international journal Science they have identified a chemical among the 4000 found in smoke that triggers seed growth. The chemical, from a group of molecules known as butenolide, was not previously known to biological science. The discovery has the potential to provide multi-million dollar benefits in agriculture. It could dramatically improve bushland regeneration and landcare programs and offer a new method of weed control. The science director at Kings Park, Kingsley Dixon, and his colleagues, associate professors Emilio Ghisalberti and Robert Trengove and PhD student Gavin Flematti, have beaten well-funded competitors in California, South Africa and Germany to identify the chemical. "I believe it was having access to unique Australian plants that gave our research a leading edge," Dr Dixon said yesterday. "It's another celebration of our biodiversity." The group has already patented the molecule. The researchers are looking for a company to develop a commercial product, which Dr Dixon predicted could be available to home gardeners within five years and to industry and landcare groups even sooner. The molecule - which they want to call gavinone after Mr Flematti - is so powerful that a concentration equivalent to a third of a teaspoon in a domestic swimming pool is enough to germinate seeds from a range of vegetables, trees, grasses and native species such as kangaroo-paw and flannel flower. Researchers say the potential is enormous. Dr Dixon said the group had been interested in cracking the conundrum ever since South African botanists proved 15 years ago it was bushfire smoke, not heat and ash, that germinated seeds. His group confirmed in 1993 the theory applied to Australian species. © The Australian