Thermal Regulation of Plant Growth Dynamics

Plant growth dynamics are profoundly influenced by ambient temperature, which modulates developmental programmes from seedling establishment to reproductive stages. Subtle elevations in temperature trigger a suite of morphological and physiological adjustments, collectively termed thermomorphogenesis, featuring elongation of stems and petioles, leaf hyponasty and altered flowering time. At the molecular level, plants deploy thermosensors—such as phytochromes, RNA thermometers and heat‐sensitive protein complexes—that relay thermal cues to transcriptional and hormonal networks. Central to these networks is a regulatory hub formed by PHYTOCHROME‐INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4), which integrates light and temperature signals to control auxin biosynthesis, cell elongation and stress responses. Crosstalk with circadian clock components and chromatin remodelers ensures that growth adjustments are temporally gated and fine‐tuned. Understanding these mechanisms is critical for predicting plant responses to climate change and for engineering crops with enhanced resilience to heat stress.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have illuminated genetic strategies and signalling circuits that enhance thermal tolerance and growth plasticity. In wheat, a naturally occurring variant of a serine/threonine kinase promotes heat resilience by strengthening phosphorylation and stabilisation of PIF4 under high‐temperature conditions, offering a route to breed cultivars with improved yield under heat stress. In Arabidopsis, daytime temperature sensing has been shown to operate via direct interaction between phytochrome B and a transcriptional activator, which together boost PIF4 abundance and activate temperature‐responsive gene expression. Meanwhile, circadian gating of thermoresponsive elongation is mediated by the reciprocal interaction of the evening‐expressed clock protein TOC1 with PIF4, thereby restricting growth responses to specific times of day and optimising resource allocation.

Thermal Regulation of Plant Growth Dynamics publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in thermal regulation of plant growth dynamics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Thermomorphogenesis: The set of morphological changes in plants induced by warm ambient temperatures, including stem elongation and leaf elevation.

PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4): A basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor that integrates light and temperature cues to regulate growth-promoting genes and auxin synthesis.

STKc_GSK3 kinase: A serine/threonine kinase that modulates stress response pathways and, in certain crop species, enhances thermal tolerance by stabilising growth regulators.

HEMERA (HMR): A transcriptional activator that partners with phytochrome B to trigger PIF4 accumulation and warm-temperature gene expression during daylight.

TOC1: A core circadian clock protein that binds to PIF4 in the evening, gating thermoresponsive growth to specific times and improving fitness under fluctuating conditions.

References

1. Temperature Sensing in Plants. Annual Review of Plant Biology (2023).
2. Natural variation of STKc_GSK3 kinase TaSG-D1 contributes to heat stress tolerance in Indian dwarf wheat. Nature Communications (2024).
3. Daytime temperature is sensed by phytochrome B in Arabidopsis through a transcriptional activator HEMERA. Nature Communications (2019).
4. TOC1–PIF4 interaction mediates the circadian gating of thermoresponsive growth in Arabidopsis. Nature Communications (2016).
5. PIF4–Mediated Activation of YUCCA8 Expression Integrates Temperature into the Auxin Pathway in Regulating Arabidopsis Hypocotyl Growth. PLOS Genetics (2012).
6. Plant Hormone-Mediated Regulation of Heat Tolerance in Response to Global Climate Change. Frontiers in Plant Science (2021).