Temperature-Responsive Plant Immunity and Pathogen Interactions
Summary
Recent decades have revealed that ambient temperature exerts profound effects on plant defence systems and pathogen virulence strategies. Plant innate immunity comprises an initial recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns, leading to PAMP-triggered immunity, and a downstream effector-triggered response mediated by intracellular NLR receptors. Temperature shifts can alter hormone signalling pathways—particularly salicylic acid biosynthesis—modulate the stability and nuclear localisation of immune receptors, and influence the formation of biomolecular condensates that orchestrate transcriptional reprogramming. At elevated temperatures, many plants exhibit reduced resistance due to compromised salicylic acid production and attenuated effector recognition, while certain cultivars and engineered genotypes maintain robust defence via context-specific regulatory modules. Understanding these mechanisms is essential to safeguard crop health under climate change, guide breeding of thermotolerant varieties and inform integrated disease management strategies.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Studies have uncovered a temperature-specific immunity module in pepper wherein two transcription factors form a complex under high-temperature, high-humidity conditions to activate a subset of NLR genes against bacterial wilt, yet switch to heat-shock protein induction when stress persists. Work in Arabidopsis has shown that short episodes of elevated temperature suppress salicylic acid synthesis by disrupting specialised biomolecular condensates that recruit defence regulators, and that optimised expression of a key transcription factor can restore immune outputs without growth penalties. Foundational research also demonstrated that higher growth temperatures enhance bacterial effector translocation and interfere with salicylic acid-mediated signalling, revealing a direct link between thermal cues, hormone biosynthesis and pathogen virulence strategies.
Temperature-Responsive Plant Immunity and Pathogen Interactions publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in temperature-responsive plant immunity and pathogen interactions across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
NLR receptors: Intracellular proteins that detect specific pathogen effectors and trigger effector-triggered immunity.
PAMP-triggered immunity: The first layer of plant defence activated by recognition of conserved microbial molecules.
Effector-triggered immunity: A robust immune response initiated by the detection of pathogen-secreted effector proteins.
Biomolecular condensates: Membrane-less cellular assemblies that concentrate regulatory proteins to orchestrate transcriptional responses.
Salicylic acid: A plant hormone central to defence against biotrophic pathogens and modulation of immune gene expression.
References
- Differential CaKAN3-CaHSF8 associations underlie distinct immune and heat responses under high temperature and high humidity conditions. Nature Communications (2023).
- Increasing the resilience of plant immunity to a warming climate. Nature (2022).
- Dual impact of elevated temperature on plant defence and bacterial virulence in Arabidopsis. Nature Communications (2017).
- Unveiling pepper immunity’s robustness to temperature shifts: insights for empowering future crops. Horticulture Research (2024).
- Natural variation in temperature-modulated immunity uncovers transcription factor bHLH059 as a thermoresponsive regulator in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLOS Genetics (2021).
- Temperature Modulates Plant Defense Responses through NB-LRR Proteins. PLOS Pathogens (2010).
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