Scientists have uncovered another piece of the puzzle of how plants respond to heat.
Robert Larkin, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State University, was working on photosynthesis in plants when he uncovered the bZIP28 gene.
He and his team found that it regulates the heat stress response in Arabidopsis thaliana, a member of the mustard family.
Plants are less heat tolerant and eventually die when this gene is inactive, said Larkin.
For farmers and plant breeders, the finding provides a deeper understanding of plant responses that could be useful in creating new crop varieties.
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“Studying heat tolerance over the long term will help us generate tools that will be useful for agriculture,” Larkin said.
Scientists found bZIP28 was responding to signals from the endoplasmic reticulum, a membrane in the cell that consists of small tubes and sac-like structures where proteins are stored and packaged.
The gene is anchored in the endoplasmic reticulum and, when stressed by heat, moves into the nucleus of the cell where it can turn on other genes to control the heat response.
Future research will explore how this gene works with other components in a plant’s heat stress response, how it triggers the response and how it helps plants tolerate higher temperatures.
