Molecular and applied aspects of the heat stress response and of common stress tolerance in plants

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The heat shock (hs) response, the synthesis of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and the acquisition of stress tolerance, in plants is environmentally induced by heat stress and several other stresses including drought, heavy metal, and oxidative stresses. Thus HSPs, probably acting as molecular chaperones, are important determinants for developing tolerance against heat stress and probably also against other environmental stresses. Interestingly, HSPs are also synthesised in the absence of detectable environmental stress in the zygotic embryo of many plant species during seed maturation and during microspore embryogenesis. The HSPs therefore seem to play a key role in plant growth and development. The central regulator of the hs response is the hs transcription factor (HSF) whose activity for binding to the conserved hs promoter elements (HSE) and subsequent transcription of hs genes is induced upon hs. In plants multiple HSF-like genes have been isolated on the basis of HSE binding activity and conserved sequences. HSF genes are the targets for both, studying the regulation and manipulation of the hs response and hence stress tolerance.