Plant cells form temporary droplets to survive extreme stress
Mahi S, Rathod B, Puri S
Plant Signaling
The wilting basil or bolting lettuce in your garden during a heat wave is running an internal emergency system, tiny liquid droplets in its cells that rapidly rewire gene activity to cope before any visible damage appears.
When plants face heat, drought, salty soil, or disease, their cells don't have time to build new structures to respond. Instead, proteins and genetic material clump together into tiny liquid droplets, like oil beads in water, that form and dissolve in minutes to control which genes turn on or off. Scientists are now mapping how these droplets act as rapid-response hubs, though exactly how they work in each type of plant stress is still being worked out.
Key Findings
Biomolecular condensates formed by liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) act as membraneless regulatory hubs that link stress perception to gene expression changes in plants
Both abiotic stress (drought, heat) and biotic stress (pathogens) trigger remodeling of condensate structure and composition in the nucleus and cytoplasm
Condensates influence transcription factor activity, chromatin organization, RNA stability, and selective translation, and are reversibly tuned by post-translational modifications
chevron_right Technical Summary
Plant cells survive extreme heat, drought, and disease attacks by forming temporary molecular droplets inside themselves that act like pop-up emergency response centers, quickly switching genes on or off without needing dedicated compartments.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Emerging Roles of Biomolecular Condensates and Phase Separation in Plant Stress Adaptation and Gene Regulation.
Although plants are exposed to many environmental stressors (heat, drought, salinity, and pathogen), they survive by rapidly reprogramming their gene expression. Recent findings show that many regu...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Gene editing removes 97% of celiac-triggering proteins from bread wheat
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
Climate adaptation in plants refers to the physiological and evolutionary mechanisms through which plants adjust to changing environmental conditions, including temperature shifts, altered precipitation patterns, and seasonal variations. Understanding these processes is essential for plant science
arrow_forward Explore topic