Thermoplasticity in the plant circadian clock: how plants tell the time-perature

Plant Signal Behav. 2012 Oct 1;7(10):1219-23. doi: 10.4161/psb.21491. Epub 2012 Aug 20.

Abstract

In the March 2012 issue of The Plant Cell we describe extensive alternative splicing (AS) of Arabidopsis circadian clock genes. Notably these distinct post-transcriptional events associate with different steady-state temperatures and also with plants undergoing temperature transitions leading us to propose that temperature-associated AS is an additional mechanism involved in the operation and control of the plant circadian clock. Here we show that temperature associated AS also extends to REVEILLE 8 (RVE8), demonstrating a hitherto unrecognized link between the expression of this clock associated gene and temperature. Finally we discuss our observations of the plastic nature of clock gene expression at the post-transcriptional level in the context of the ongoing fascination of how plants respond to temperature.

MeSH terms

  • Alternative Splicing / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / physiology*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism
  • Circadian Clocks / genetics
  • Circadian Clocks / physiology*
  • Temperature*
  • Time Factors
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • REVEILLE 8, protein Arabidopsis
  • Transcription Factors