The Influence of Light Quality, Circadian Rhythm, and Photoperiod on the CBF-Mediated Freezing Tolerance

Low temperature adversely affects crop yields by restraining plant growth and productivity. Most temperate plants have the potential to increase their freezing tolerance upon exposure to low but nonfreezing temperatures, a process known as cold acclimation. Various physiological, molecular, and metabolic changes occur during cold acclimation, which suggests that the plant cold stress response is a complex, vital phenomenon that involves more than one pathway. The C-Repeat Binding Factor (CBF) pathway is the most important and well-studied cold regulatory pathway that imparts freezing tolerance to plants. The regulation of freezing tolerance involves the action of phytochromes, which play an important role in light-mediated signalling to activate cold-induced gene expression through the CBF pathway. Under normal temperature conditions, CBF expression is regulated by the circadian clock through the action of a central oscillator and also day length (photoperiod). The phytochrome and phytochrome interacting factor are involved in the repression of the CBF expression under long day (LD) conditions. Apart from the CBF regulon, a novel pathway involving the Z-box element also mediates the cold acclimation response in a light-dependent manner. This review provides insights into the progress of cold acclimation in relation to light quality, circadian regulation, and photoperiodic regulation and also explains the underlying molecular mechanisms of cold acclimation for introducing the engineering of economically important, cold-tolerant plants.