The strategies used by living organisms to survive under low and freezing temperatures reveal the extraordinary adaptability of life on Earth. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying cold adaptation and freezing survival will provide new insights into the existing relationships between living organisms and their environment, and the possibility of developing multiple biotechnological applications. In the case of plants, the use of classical genetic and new "omics" approaches is allowing to the identification of new elements involved in regulating the cold acclimation response. The challenge ahead is to determine temperature-perception molecules and mechanisms, to uncover new internodes of multiple responses, and to integrate the regulation not only at the transcriptome but also at proteome and metabolome levels. Attaining these goals will significantly contribute global understanding the adaptive strategies plants have evolved to cope with hostile environmental conditions, and to the development biotechnological strategies to improve crop tolerance to freezing and other important abiotic stresses.

Department of Environmental Biology Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas Madrid

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