Probing the Barley Cold Transcriptome

The Plant Genome 1:21–32. Plants have evolved a variety of mechanisms to increase their tolerance to freezing temperatures. Winter-type cereals survive freezing temperatures by undergoing a hardening process at the onset of winter via cold acclimation mediated by molecular, metabolic, and physiological changes triggered by several gene-signaling pathways. Following winter, these cereals rapidly lose hardiness and then are easily damaged by late spring freezes. Frost damage during late vegetative or reproductive stages can cause significant yield losses. Koo et al. compare transcript abundances in cold-hardy and susceptible barley varieties in response to non-acclimated freezing using the barley22K Affymetrix GeneChip. Their results indicate that differences in transcription factors, circadian related genes, and genes involved in photoperiod response were upregulated in the cold-hardy variety. As the authors indicate “These genes provide a starting point for selection or breeding” to increase cold tolerance in barley.