Plants use oxygen and cell chemistry to sense warmth too
Considine MJ, Foyer CH
Plant Signaling
The lanky, pale growth you see on seedlings during a heatwave is being steered by more than temperature alone, which means breeding heat-tolerant garden varieties may need to target oxygen and cell chemistry pathways, not just light and clock genes.
When it gets warm out, plants grow differently, often stretching taller and faster, a response scientists call thermomorphogenesis. For years researchers thought this was mainly controlled by light signals and a single protein switch, but this paper argues that oxygen levels inside plant cells and the cell's chemical balance also play a big, previously overlooked role in telling plants how to respond to heat.
Key Findings
The classic model of warm-temperature growth response centers on the protein PIF4 and dedicated heat sensors, gated mainly by circadian clock and light signals
New evidence shows cellular oxygen availability and redox (chemical balance) state act as additional control layers, often working downstream of or independent from PIF4
These oxygen- and redox-based mechanisms appear to differ across plant tissues and developmental stages, suggesting multiple distinct regulatory pathways rather than one universal switch
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists are finding that plants don't just use light and a master growth switch to respond to warm temperatures, they also use oxygen levels and the cell's internal chemistry to fine-tune how they stretch and grow in the heat.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Oxygen and redox regulation of plant thermomorphogenesis.
Plant thermomorphogenesis represents the adjustment of growth to warm ambient temperatures. The mechanism has long been organised around the transcription factor PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (P...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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