Genetic engineering strategies for manipulation of the heat shock response

Abstract

Abstract. The heat shock response in plants is well characterized at the levels of RNA and protein synthesis. Increasing information is becoming available about the DNA sequences of heat shock protein genes and their mechanism of transcriptional regulation. Relatively little is known about their biochemical functions and physiological importance. The heat shock response is highly conserved in nature and the heat shock proteins appear to confer thermotolerance on cells that express them.Modern genetic engineering and gene transfer techniques offer new possibilities to alter the expression of heat shock genes in transgenic plants by interference with the processes of transcription and translation. New strategies are discussed for selection of regulatory mutants of the heat shock response (trans‐active factors), genetic engineering of cis‐active promoter elements, the use of antisense RNA, and the overexpression of heat shock proteins.