Research on floral timing by ambient temperature comes into blossom

• Several mechanisms underlying ambient temperature regulation of floral timing have been uncovered.
• Chromatin accessibility, alternative splicing, protein stability, and miRNAs are involved in thermosensory floral timing.
• Two pathways containing repressing factors or activating factors of ambient temperature-dependent flowering time exist next to each other.

The floral transition is an essential process in the life cycle of flower-bearing plants, because their reproductive success depends on it. To determine the right moment of flowering, plants respond to many environmental signals, including day length, light quality, and temperature. Small changes in ambient temperature also affect the flowering process, although our knowledge of the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying this flowering pathway is limited. However, recent advances in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) have uncovered multiple molecular mechanisms controlling ambient temperature regulation of flowering, which modulate both repressing and activating factors of flowering time. At a time when temperatures are rising worldwide, understanding how plants integrate ambient temperature signals can be crucial for crop production.