The spotted wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is a new pest in Europe and America which causes severe damages, mostly to stone fruit crops. Temperature and humidity are among the most important abiotic factors governing insect development and fitness. In many situations, temperature can become stressful thus compromising survival. The ability to cope with thermal stress depends on basal leve...

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors are involved in arrays of physiological and biochemical processes. However, knowledge concerning the functions of bHLHs in cold tolerance remains poorly understood. In this study, a PubHLH1 gene isolated from Pyrus ussuriensis was characterized for its function in cold tolerance. PubHLH1 was upregulated by cold, salt, and dehydration, with...

Cold temperatures trigger the expression of the CBF family of transcription factors, which in turn activate many downstream genes that confer chilling and freezing tolerance to plants. We report here the identification of ICE1 (inducer of CBF expression 1), an upstream transcription factor that regulates the transcription of CBF genes in the cold. An Arabidopsis ice1 mutant was isolated in a sc...

Possible links between seasonal increases in cold-tolerance and desiccation resistance were examined in field-collected larvae of the goldenrod gall fly, Eurosta solidaginis. From 20 September to 30 October 2001, larvae exhibited a gradual increase in cold-tolerance culminating in 100% survival of freezing at -20 degrees C for 24 h. The increase in cold-tolerance was probably due to a concomita...

Cold acclimation is the major process that prepares plants for freezing tolerance. In addition to extensive transcription regulation by cold-inducible master transcription factors, oxidative stress signaling has been postulated to play a role in freezing tolerance. Activation of oxidative signaling through the expression of an active mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase provided benef...

Natural variation for freezing tolerance is a major component of adaptation and geographic distribution of plant species. However, little is known about the genes and molecular mechanisms that determine its naturally occurring diversity. We have analyzed the intraspecific freezing tolerance variation existent between two geographically distant accessions of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), C...

The success of insects is linked to their impressive tolerance to environmental stress, but little is known about how such responses are mediated by the neuroendocrine system. Here we show that the capability (capa) neuropeptide gene is a desiccation- and cold stress-responsive gene in diverse dipteran species. Using targeted in vivo gene silencing, physiological manipulations, stress-tolerance...

Light signaling and phytohormones both influence plant growth, development, and stress responses; however, cross talk between these two signaling pathways in response to cold remains underexplored. Here, we report that far-red light (FR) and red light (R) perceived by phytochrome A (phyA) and phyB positively and negatively regulated cold tolerance, respectively, in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)...