Heat-stress priming and alternative splicing-linked memory

Stress-induced priming and associated memory is an intriguing adaptive response in plants, and one with important implications for crop development. Ling et al. (2018) carried out a comprehensive RNA-Seq analysis of gene expression and splicing events in heat-stress primed and non-primed plants, revealing alternative splicing as a novel and vital component of heat-stress priming induced memory. The splicing-linked memory programmed during the priming phase is important for ensuring the availability of correctly spliced transcripts/proteins critical for enhanced tolerance.