Temperature regulation of plant phenological development

Gradual and abrupt changes in temperature under current and future climates pose a serious threat to ecological diversity and in sustaining global food security. Plants possess a robust network of thermal sensors to program their metabolic and hormonal framework, providing acclimation to short-term abrupt fluctuations or adaptation to gradual temperature change. Several cellular thermosensors are reported in plants and understanding their mode of operation in a potentially coordinated framework continues to be a persistent challenge. Despite growing insight into the molecular control of thermal perception, physiological significance of plant thermal responses under a complex interaction with other environmental cues is largely unaddressed. Plant thermal perception and signaling could be similar across growth habits such as herbaceous to perennial woody species while developmental transitions such as vegetative to reproductive stage, influenced by their immediate microclimate, are generally altered across growth habits. The overall aim is to connect the knowledge gained with thermal perception and the signaling that drives plant responses, with major focus on the latter. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.