Plant Thermomorphogenesis: Identifying Plant Thermosensors

Plants are subjugated to fluctuations in temperature over daily and seasonal temporal scales. Because of their sessile nature, plants have evolved necessary physiological response pathways to temperature fluctuations in order to adapt to their environments. There is an abundance of research covering temperature stress response, but plant response to non-stressful temperature fluctuations has closer applications to fields such as climate change, due to the incremental shifts in temperature caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases. Temperature shifts due to global warming and normal seasonal variations have important effects on the distribution of plant species and the effect on crop plant supply. Due to this significance, this review will highlight current understandings of the mechanisms that control plant thermomorphogenesis, present novel findings in plant thermosensors, as well as investigate other areas of research that are necessary to further understand the mechanisms of plant adaptation to ambient temperatures. For literature outside the scope of this review, readers are referred to.Molecular Bioscience