Temperature-Light-Chromatin (TLC) : Environmental signal integration in plant nuclear hubs.

Plants are highly plastic organisms and an ideal system to study how environmental stimuli guide their morphology and growth. Plant responses to changing light and temperature are interconnected as both parameters rely on sunlight. The aim of this proposal is to understand how plants respond to light and warm temperature signals. The alarming rise in global temperatures are predicted to lead to huge crop losses (up to 10% per 1 degree C increase). Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover and characterise the key molecular components integrating light and thermotolerance responses in plants.
We will study how one protein can control the balance between plant growth and protection to elevated temperatures depending on its "cellular neighbourhood" in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Our aim is to apply our findings to economically important plant species as a means of minimising crop loss and maximise protection against global warming.

This proposal aims to establish the switch that controls the balance between plant growth and adaptation in response to warm temperatures. More specifically, we will investigate the role of a single protein with opposing functions in photomorphogenesis and thermo-tolerance at the chromatin level. Light and temperature act in concert to control plant development and productivity in natural environments. Global temperatures are rising and will lead to huge crop losses (10% average loss per 1C rise in temperature). Therefore, it is crucial to understand how light and temperature signals integrate if we want to promote plant adaptation and growth in response to climate change. We propose to uncover the integrating role of a nuclear-localised protein (TZP) that acts at the crossroads of light and temperature signalling in Arabidopsis. TANDEM ZINC-FINGER PLUS3 (TZP) is a transcriptional regulator that fine-tunes plant architectural and developmental responses including flowering initiation and hypocotyl growth via interactions with photoreceptors and thermosensing components. Transcriptional reprogramming is a major driver of photo- and thermo-regulated responses, however, it is still unclear what are the key chromatin events and players that act as rheostats controlling light and temperature crosstalk. We have evidence that TZP plays a pivotal role in environmental signal integration at the chromatin level and provides an excellent model system for fine-tuning plant adaptation and growth. Our research plan will address key gaps in our knowledge and help uncover how TZP acts as a "hub" where light and temperature signals meet to prioritise plant growth and adaptation. Understanding the mechanisms of environmental signal integration will allow us to implement these findings in precision agricultural practices on economically important species to minimise crop loss and enhance food production in response to climate change.