Plant responses to heat stress

Abstract

The heat stress response is characterized by inhibition of normal transcription andtranslation, higher expression of heat shock proteins (hsps) and induction of thermotolerance.If stress is too severe, signaling pathways leading to apoptotic celldeath are also activated. As molecular chaperones, hsps provide protection to cellsagainst the damaging effects of heat stress and enhance survival. The enhancedexpression of hsps is regulated by heat shock transcription factors (HSFs). Recentadvances in molecular genetic approaches have provided new insights into theplant heat stress response. A striking characteristic of plants is that they containhighly complex multigene families encoding HSFs and hsps. This review outlinesour current knowledge of the functions of plant hsps and the regulation of HSFs,and offers a comparative view of heat stress responses in plants and other organisms.Recent observations indicating that heat stress response overlaps with otherstress responses are also discussed.