Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2018, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (2): 149-153.DOI: 10.11983/CBB18039

• COMMENTARY •     Next Articles

Making Sense of Cold Signaling: ICE is Cold or not Cold?

Duan Zhikun, Qin Xiaohui, Zhu Xiaohong, Song Chunpeng*()   

  1. Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
  • Received:2018-02-03 Accepted:2018-03-08 Online:2018-03-01 Published:2018-08-10
  • Contact: Song Chunpeng

Abstract: Cold (chilling or freezing) stress affects the growth and geographical distribution of plants, and it is one of the main factors that restricts crop yield and quality. Plants respond to cold signals by activating a series of effectors to adapt to cold stress. MAP protein kinase family plays a crucial role in plant response to environmental stresses, but it remains unclear whether they are directly involved in perception, transduction or/and networks in cold signaling. Recently, three research groups in China highlight the important role of MAP kinase in cold signaling transduction in Arabidopsis thaliana and rice, respectively. Low temperature activates MPK kinase that phosphorylates the ICE1 protein. Stability of ICE1 is controlled by MAP kinase mediated ICE phosphorylation, thus regulating freezing and chilling tolerance in plants. Their studies have advanced our understanding of the ICE1-mediated network of plant cold responses, which is an important breakthrough in the field. The outcome of these studies would provide a powerful theoretical basis for future molecular design breeding in crops.

Key words: cold response, phosphorylation, MAPK cascades, ICE1, OsTPP1