From freezing to scorching, transcriptional responses to temperature variations in plants

Plants are capable of adapting to a wide range of temperatures by reprogramming their transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome. Early investigations uncovered a regulatory network containing the CBF–COR pathway in freezing tolerance and the HSF–HSP pathway in thermotolerance. Recent studies have identified additional signaling components for extreme temperature tolerance and new regulators of plant form in response to temperature variation within the nonextreme range. Some common regulators are shared between temperature responses and other environmental and developmental responses. These discoveries further reveal the complexity and sophistication of molecular mechanisms underlying plants’ adaptation to their environment.