Leicester, United Kingdom
March 30, 2009
Source:
University of Leicester
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Arabidopsis thaliana plants grown at 22°C (left) and
28°C (right) |
Researchers at the universities of
Leicester and Oxford have made a discovery about plant growth
which could potentially have an enormous impact on crop
production as global warming increases.
Dr Kerry Franklin, from the University of Leicester Department
of Biology led the study which has identified a single gene
responsible for controlling plant growth responses to elevated
temperature.
Dr Franklin said: “Exposure of plants to high temperature
results in the rapid elongation of stems and a dramatic upwards
elevation of leaves”.
“These responses are accompanied by a significant reduction in
plant biomass, thereby severely reducing harvest yield. Our
study has revealed that a single gene product regulates all
these architectural adaptations in the model plant species,
Arabidopsis thaliana.”
The work has been published in Current Biology and was funded by
the Royal Society and the BBSRC.
Dr Franklin added: “This study provides the first major advance
in understanding how plants regulate growth responses to
elevated temperature at the molecular level. This discovery will
prove fundamental in understanding the effects of global climate
change on crop productivity”.
“Identification of the mechanisms by which plants sense changes
in ambient temperature remains a Holy Grail in plant biology
research. Although the identity of such ‘temperature sensors’
remains elusive, the discovery of a key downstream regulator
brings us closer to addressing this important question.”
The study has shown that mutant plants, deficient in the
regulatory protein PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4) do
not display the dramatic stem elongation and leaf elevation
responses observed in wild type plants upon exposure to elevated
temperature. The study has further shown PIF4 to regulate a
pathway involving the plant hormone auxin. The PIF4 gene product
was previously identified as a co-regulator of light-mediated
elongation growth, suggesting plants integrate light and
temperature signalling pathways through converged regulation of
the same target proteins. |
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