Shere Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Rice Research and Regional Station, Khudwani, Anantnag, 192102, Kashmir, India.
Curr Genomics. 2011 Mar;12(1):30-43. doi: 10.2174/138920211794520178.
Plants respond with changes in their pattern of gene expression and protein products when exposed to low temperatures. Thus ability to adapt has an impact on the distribution and survival of the plant, and on crop yields. Many species of tropical or subtropical origin are injured or killed by non-freezing low temperatures, and exhibit various symptoms of chilling injury such as chlorosis, necrosis, or growth retardation. In contrast, chilling tolerant species are able to grow at such cold temperatures. Conventional breeding methods have met with limited success in improving the cold tolerance of important crop plants involving inter-specific or inter-generic hybridization. Recent studies involving full genome profiling/ sequencing, mutational and transgenic plant analyses, have provided a deep insight of the complex transcriptional mechanism that operates under cold stress. The alterations in expression of genes in response to cold temperatures are followed by increases in the levels of hundreds of metabolites, some of which are known to have protective effects against the damaging effects of cold stress. Various low temperature inducible genes have been isolated from plants. Most appear to be involved in tolerance to cold stress and the expression of some of them is regulated by C-repeat binding factor/ dehydration-responsive element binding (CBF/DREB1) transcription factors. Numerous physiological and molecular changes occur during cold acclimation which reveals that the cold resistance is more complex than perceived and involves more than one pathway. The findings summarized in this review have shown potential practical applications for breeding cold tolerance in crop and horticultural plants suitable to temperate geographical locations.
当植物暴露在低温环境中时，它们会通过改变基因表达模式和蛋白质产物来做出反应。因此，适应能力会影响植物的分布和生存，以及作物的产量。许多热带或亚热带起源的物种会因非冻结低温而受到伤害或死亡，并表现出各种冷害症状，如黄化、坏死或生长迟缓。相比之下，耐寒物种能够在如此寒冷的温度下生长。传统的育种方法在提高重要作物植物的耐寒性方面取得的成功有限，涉及种间或属间杂交。最近涉及全基因组图谱/测序、突变和转基因植物分析的研究，为在低温胁迫下运作的复杂转录机制提供了深刻的见解。基因表达对低温的改变伴随着数百种代谢物水平的增加，其中一些已知对低温胁迫的破坏性影响具有保护作用。已经从植物中分离出各种低温诱导基因。大多数似乎参与对冷胁迫的耐受，其中一些的表达受 C-重复结合因子/脱水响应元件结合（CBF/DREB1）转录因子调节。在低温驯化过程中会发生许多生理和分子变化，这表明抗寒性比人们想象的要复杂，涉及不止一条途径。本综述中总结的发现表明，在适合温带地理位置的作物和园艺植物中培育耐寒性具有潜在的实际应用。
