Gene Networks Involved in Plant Heat Stress Response and Tolerance

Global warming is an environmental problem that cannot be ignored. High temperatures seriously affect the normal growth and development of plants, and threaten the development of agriculture and the distribution and survival of species at risk. Plants have evolved complex but efficient mechanisms for sensing and responding to high temperatures, which involve the activation of numerous functional proteins, regulatory proteins, and non-coding RNAs. These mechanisms consist of large regulatory networks that regulate protein and RNA structure and stability, induce Ca(2+) and hormone signal transduction, mediate sucrose and water transport, activate antioxidant defense, and maintain other normal metabolic pathways. This article reviews recent research results on the molecular mechanisms of plant response to high temperatures, highlighting future directions or strategies for promoting plant heat tolerance, thereby helping to identify the regulatory mechanisms of heat stress responses in plants.