Temperature perception and signal transduction in plants

Abstract

Summary: Plants can show remarkable responses to small changes in temperature, yet one of the great unknowns in plant science is how that temperature signal is perceived. The identity of the early components of the temperature signal transduction pathway also remains a mystery. To understand the consequences of anthropogenic environmental change we will have to learn much more about the basic biology of how plants sense temperature. Recent advances show that many known plant‐temperature responses share common signalling components, and suggest ways in which these might be linked to form a plant temperature signalling network. Contents Summary 615 I. Introduction 616 II. Plant acclimatization to cold 616 III. The acquisition of thermotolerance 617 IV. Abscisic acid and extreme temperature responses 617 V. Altering plant fatty acid composition affects plant tolerance to temperature extremes 617 VI. Temperature regulates the protein stability of fatty acid desaturases 618 VII. Membrane fluidity and temperature sensing 618 VIII. The role of gibberellin in temperature‐regulated growth 619 IX. Temperature‐regulated GA synthesis controls seed germination 619 X. Temperature regulates auxin levels to control plant growth rhythms 620 XI. The circadian clock: temperature entrainment and compensation 620 XII. Temperature regulates flowering time independently of GA synthesis 621 XIII. Temperature‐responsive periods control annual growth in trees 621 XIV. Temperature response pathways share common signalling components 622 XV. Flowering time regulators with roles in cold acclimatization 623 XVI. A general role for the circadian clock in temperature signal transduction 623 XVII. Cytosolic calcium may integrate temperature and circadian signalling 624 XVIII. The role of phytochrome signalling in temperature responses 624 XIX. Conclusions 625 References 625