Scientists Find New Mechanisms Controling Plant's Temperature Response

Experts from Danforth Plant Science Center discovered a plant protein complex that controls temperature response by the circadian clock. With the impact of climate change in daily and seasonal temperature trends, it is vital to comprehend how plants read and respond to varying temperature signals. The findings are published in the journal Plant Physiology.

“The circadian clock in Arabidopsis is well-studied. So, the most exciting part of this project was finding a brand-new protein complex that regulates temperature responses. No one else had discovered this interaction, even in an established system,” said Dr. Maria Sorkin, one of the researchers. The protein complex is composed of three components that interact at night to adjust to lower temperatures. The team was also able to pinpoint the mechanistic linkage of the proteins and specific time of days when their interactions take place.

The research team and collaborators will proceed with the study to investigate the interaction within the protein complex at various temperatures.

Know more from Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.