Dynamics of Plant Metabolism during Cold Acclimation

• Main Authors: Lisa Fürtauer, Jakob Weiszmann, Wolfram Weckwerth, Thomas Nägele
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-10-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: cold acclimation; metabolic reprogramming; carbohydrates; subcellular metabolism; sucrose cycling; enzyme activity; arrhenius equation; kinetic modelling; <i>arabidopsis thaliana</i>
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/21/5411

Plants have evolved strategies to tightly regulate metabolism during acclimation to a changing environment. Low temperature significantly constrains distribution, growth and yield of many temperate plant species. Exposing plants to low but non-freezing temperature induces a multigenic processes termed cold acclimation, which eventually results in an increased freezing tolerance. Cold acclimation comprises reprogramming of the transcriptome, proteome and metabolome and affects communication and signaling between subcellular organelles. Carbohydrates play a central role in this metabolic reprogramming. This review summarizes current knowledge about the role of carbohydrate metabolism in plant cold acclimation with a focus on subcellular metabolic reprogramming, its thermodynamic constraints under low temperature and mathematical modelling of metabolism.