Arabidopsis transcription factors regulating cold acclimation

Many plants, including Arabidopsis, increase in freezing tolerance in response to low non-freezing temperatures, a phenomenon known as cold acclimation. A fundamental goal of cold acclimation research is to identify genes that have roles in this increase in freezing tolerance. In recent years, it has been established that the expression of hundreds of genes is altered in response to low temperature and that some of these cold-responsive genes contribute to freezing tolerance. The CBF transcription factors were the first transcriptional activators demonstrated to have a role in controlling the expression of cold-responsive genes with a role in cold acclimation. Here, we review what is known about the CBF cold-response pathway, including several recent developments, and we discuss emerging evidence in support of several additional transcription factors having roles in freezing tolerance pathways.