temperature-stress
Temperature stress refers to the physiological and molecular responses plants experience when exposed to temperatures outside their optimal growth range, including both heat and cold extremes. These thermal stresses can disrupt protein folding, membrane integrity, and metabolic processes, leading to reduced growth, yield loss, and in severe cases, plant death. Understanding how plants sense and adapt to temperature fluctuations is increasingly critical as climate change intensifies the frequency and severity of thermal extremes in agricultural and natural ecosystems.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-04-17
A large-scale review found that plants use predictable, shared strategies to reshape their cell membranes when temperatures spike or plunge — insights that could help scientists breed crops better equipped to survive climate extremes.
Under heat stress, plants consistently reduce membrane-destabilizing lipids (like MGDG and PE) and store highly unsaturated fatty acids in neutral fat droplets (triglycerides) to prevent membranes from becoming dangerously fluid.
Very long-chain fatty acids emerged as a previously underappreciated heat-stress tool, likely acting as structural reinforcement to maintain membrane integrity at high temperatures.
Under cold stress, plants universally increase polyunsaturated lipids in membranes and shift the balance toward bilayer-forming fats (DGDG up, MGDG down) to keep membranes flexible and functional.