Plant reactions to stress vary with development stage and fitness. This study assessed the relationship between light and chilling stress in Arabidopsis acclimation. By analysing the transcriptome and proteome responses of expanding leaves subjected to varying light intensity and cold, 2251 and 2064 early response genes and proteins were identified, respectively. Many of these represent as a yet unknown part of the early response to cold, illustrating a development-dependent response to stress and duality in plant adaptations. While standard light promoted photosynthetic upregulation, plastid maintenance, and increased resilience, low light triggered a unique metabolic shift, prioritizing ribosome biogenesis and lipid metabolism and attenuating the expression of genes associated with plant immunity. The comparison of early response in young leaves with that in expanded ones showed striking differences, suggesting a sacrifice of expanded leaves to support young ones. Validations of selected DEGs in mutant background confirmed a role of HSP90-1, transcription factor FLZ13, and Phospholipase A1 (PLIP) in response to cold, and the PLIP family emerged as crucial in promoting acclimation and freezing stress tolerance. The findings highlight the dynamic mechanisms that enable plants to adapt to challenging environments and pave the way for the development of genetically modified crops with enhanced freezing tolerance.

• Keywords
• acclimation, freezing tolerance, jasmonic acid, leaf development, lipidome, proteome, transcriptome,
• MeSH
• Acclimatization * physiology   radiation effects   MeSH
• Arabidopsis * physiology   radiation effects   genetics   MeSH
• Photosynthesis MeSH
• Plant Leaves * physiology   radiation effects   genetics   MeSH
• Cold Temperature * MeSH
• Arabidopsis Proteins metabolism   genetics   MeSH
• Proteome MeSH
• Gene Expression Regulation, Plant MeSH
• Light * MeSH
• Transcriptome MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Arabidopsis Proteins MeSH
• Proteome MeSH

Reduced height (Rht) genes have revolutionised wheat cultivation, but they can compromise freezing tolerance, and only a few alleles are in use. Thus, evaluating the role of other Rht alleles in stress responses is crucial. Far-red supplementation of white light (W+FR) can induce pre-hardening in cereals at 15°C. However, the relevant effect of blue light enrichment (W+B) is poorly described. This study investigates the influence of W+FR or W+B exposure in young winter wheat leaves of a tall (wild-type, rht12) and a dwarf, gibberellin-deficient (near-isogenic line, Rht12) genotype in cv. Maris Huntsman background over 10 days at 15°C. The main objectives were to investigate the relationship between light quality, gibberellin homeostasis, and freezing tolerance. Key parameters such as frost injury, hormonal pools and the expression of relevant genes were examined. Results provided evidence about the involvement of Rht alleles in the basal freezing tolerance of wheat leaves from the side of gibberellin availability. It was revealed that W+FR and W+B treatments partially rescued the freezing-sensitive phenotype of Rht12 leaves, suggesting a potential compensatory mechanism. Analysis of gibberellic acid (GA) metabolism indicated differential responses to light treatments between the Rht12 and wild-type leaves, with implications for freezing tolerance. Moreover, alterations in hormone levels, including jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA), were observed, highlighting the complex interplay between light signalling and hormonal regulation in wheat. Overall, these findings suggest that manipulating light responses may offer a strategy to enhance freezing tolerance in gibberellin-deficient dwarf wheat genotypes.

• MeSH
• Red Light MeSH
• Genotype MeSH
• Gibberellins metabolism   MeSH
• Plant Leaves * radiation effects   physiology   metabolism   MeSH
• Triticum * physiology   radiation effects   genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Gene Expression Regulation, Plant radiation effects   MeSH
• Plant Growth Regulators * metabolism   MeSH
• Light * MeSH
• Freezing MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Cyclopentanes MeSH
• Gibberellins MeSH
• jasmonic acid MeSH Browser
• Oxylipins MeSH
• Plant Growth Regulators * MeSH

Heavy water (D2O) is scarce in nature, and despite its physical similarity to water, D2O disrupts cellular function due to the isotope effect. While microbes can survive in nearly pure D2O, eukaryotes such as Arabidopsis thaliana are more sensitive and are unable to survive higher concentrations of D2O. To explore the underlying molecular mechanisms for these differences, we conducted a comparative proteomic analysis of E. coli, S. cerevisiae, and Arabidopsis after 180 min of growth in a D2O-supplemented media. Shared adaptive mechanisms across these species were identified, including changes in ribosomal protein abundances, accumulation of chaperones, and altered metabolism of polyamines and amino acids. However, Arabidopsis exhibited unique vulnerabilities, such as a muted stress response, lack of rapid activation of reactive oxygen species metabolism, and depletion of stress phytohormone abscisic acid signaling components. Experiments with mutants show that modulating the HSP70 pool composition may promote D2O resilience. Additionally, Arabidopsis rapidly incorporated deuterium into sucrose, indicating that photosynthesis facilitates deuterium intake. These findings provide valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms that dictate differential tolerance to D2O across species and lay the groundwork for further studies on the biological effects of uncommon isotopes, with potential implications for biotechnology and environmental science.

• Keywords
• HSP70, ROS metabolism, adaptation, deuterium oxide, proteome, stress response,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

The vast majority of agricultural land undergoes abiotic stress that can significantly reduce agricultural yields. Understanding the mechanisms of plant defenses against stresses and putting this knowledge into practice is, therefore, an integral part of sustainable agriculture. In this review, we focus on current findings in plant resistance to four cardinal abiotic stressors-drought, heat, salinity, and low temperatures. Apart from the description of the newly discovered mechanisms of signaling and resistance to abiotic stress, this review also focuses on the importance of primary and secondary metabolites, including carbohydrates, amino acids, phenolics, and phytohormones. A meta-analysis of transcriptomic studies concerning the model plant Arabidopsis demonstrates the long-observed phenomenon that abiotic stressors induce different signals and effects at the level of gene expression, but genes whose regulation is similar under most stressors can still be traced. The analysis further reveals the transcriptional modulation of Golgi-targeted proteins in response to heat stress. Our analysis also highlights several genes that are similarly regulated under all stress conditions. These genes support the central role of phytohormones in the abiotic stress response, and the importance of some of these in plant resistance has not yet been studied. Finally, this review provides information about the response to abiotic stress in major European crop plants-wheat, sugar beet, maize, potatoes, barley, sunflowers, grapes, rapeseed, tomatoes, and apples.

• Keywords
• abiotic stress, cold stress, crop, drought, heat stress, metabolites, phytohormones, salinity,
• MeSH
• Arabidopsis * genetics   MeSH
• Stress, Physiological genetics   MeSH
• Crop Production MeSH
• Heat-Shock Response genetics   MeSH
• Plant Growth Regulators * MeSH
• Plants MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Meta-Analysis MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Plant Growth Regulators * MeSH

It is well established that cold acclimation processes are highly influenced, apart from cold ambient temperatures, by light-dependent environmental factors. In this study we investigated whether an extra blue (B) light supplementation would be able to further improve the well-documented freezing tolerance enhancing effect of far-red (FR) enriched white (W) light. The impact of B and FR light supplementation to white light (WFRB) on hormone levels and lipid contents were determined in winter barley at moderate (15 °C) and low (5 °C) temperatures. Low R:FR ratio effectively induced frost tolerance in barley plantlets, but additional B light further enhanced frost hardiness at both temperatures. Supplementation of WFR (white light enriched with FR light) with B had a strong positive effect on abscisic acid accumulation while the suppression of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid levels were observed at low temperature which resembles the shade avoidance syndrome. We also observed clear lipidomic differences between the individual light and temperature treatments. WFRB light changed the total lipid content negatively, but monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) content was increased, nonetheless. Our results prove that WFRB light can greatly influence phytohormone dynamics and lipid contents, which eventually leads to more efficient pre-hardening to avoid frost damage.

• Keywords
• barley, cold acclimation, light regulation, light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, lipidome, phytohormones,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Besides the long-standing role of cytokinins (CKs) as growth regulators, their current positioning at the interface of development and stress responses is coming into recognition. The current evidence suggests the notion that CKs are involved in heat stress response (HSR), however, the role of CK signaling components is still elusive. In this study, we have identified a role of the CK signaling components type-A Arabidopsis response regulators (ARRs) in HSR in Arabidopsis. The mutants of multiple type-A ARR genes exhibit improved basal and acquired thermotolerance and, altered response to oxidative stress in our physiological analyses. Through proteomics profiling, we show that the type-A arr mutants experience a 'stress-primed' state enabling them to respond more efficiently upon exposure to real stress stimuli. A substantial number of proteins that are involved in the heat-acclimatization process such as the proteins related to cellular redox status and heat shock, are already altered in the type-A arr mutants without a prior exposure to stress conditions. The metabolomics analyses further reveal that the mutants accumulate higher amounts of α-and γ-tocopherols, which are important antioxidants for protection against oxidative damage. Collectively, our results suggest that the type-A ARRs play an important role in heat stress response by affecting the redox homeostasis in Arabidopsis.

• Keywords
• Arabidopsis response regulators, cytokinins, heat stress, heat-acclimatization, metabolomics, oxidative stress, proteomics,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH