Overview of Cold Stress Regulation in Plants

Among different environmental stresses,cold stress can significantly affect plant's physiological activity, biochemical metabolism, growth,development and crop productivity. Problems due to cold stress should be addressed seriously keeping in concern extreme temperature events due to climate change, alarming increase in population growth and demanding food needs. Cold signal is recognized by receptors of cell membrane,severity of which is determined by factors like light and temperature. The signal is transduced by cold responsive genes, second messengers like calcium and transcription factors to exert symptoms including decreased germination, stunted growth, chlorosis, wilting of leaves, compromised reproductive development and ultimately necrosis. Cold stress induces cell membrane damage, reduction in scavenging enzymes' activity, loss of energy in photosynthetic apparatus and stability of proteins. This review presents a broader overview of components regulating cold stress responses, changes in physiological processes, transcriptional; post-transcriptional regulations,coldsignaling pathway and interactions with photoreceptors, phytohormones, pathogenesis-related genes, microbial interactions during cold stress.