Regulation of RNA Metabolism in Plant Adaptation to Cold

Abstract

Posttranscriptional regulation of RNA metabolism, including RNA processing, splicing, transport, turnover, and translational control, is recognized as a key regulatory process in plant response to diverse environmental stresses, during which a variety of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) perform as central regulators in cells. Over the past decades, several classes of RBPs have been identified from diverse plant species and their roles in stress response determined. In particular, the stress-responsive expression and functional roles of glycine-rich RNA-binding proteins (GRPs), cold shock domain proteins (CSPs), and DEAD-box RNA helicases (RHs) have been extensively investigated in Arabidopsis thaliana, rice (Oryza sativa), and wheat (Triticum aestivum). In this chapter, we will review the recent progress of our understanding of the roles of these RBPs during the cold adaptation process in monocotyledonous plants as well as in dicotyledonous plants, which shed new light on the importance of the regulation of mRNA metabolism and the role of RBPs as a central regulator in plant adaptation to cold.