Development of Wild and Cultivated Plants under Global Warming Conditions

Abstract

Global warming is one of the most detrimental aspects of climate change, affecting plant growth and development across the entire life cycle. This Review explores how different stages of development are influenced by elevated temperature in both wild plants and crops. Starting from seed development and germination, global warming will influence morphological adjustments, termed thermomorphogenesis, and photosynthesis primarily during the vegetative phase, as well as flowering and reproductive development. Where applicable, we distinguish between moderately elevated temperatures that affect all stages of plant development and heat waves that often occur during the reproductive phase when they can have devastating consequences for fruit development. The parallel occurrence of elevated temperature with other abiotic and biotic stressors, particularly the combination of global warming and drought or increased pathogen pressure, will potentiate the challenges for both wild and cultivated plant species. The key components of the molecular networks underlying the physiological processes involved in thermal responses in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana are highlighted. In crops, temperature-sensitive traits relevant for yield are illustrated for winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.), representing cultivated species adapted to temperate vs. warm climate zones, respectively. While the fate of wild plants depends on political agendas, plant breeding approaches informed by mechanistic understanding originating in basic science can enable the generation of climate change-resilient crops.

Photoperiod and Vernalization Control of Flowering-Related Genes: A Case Study of the Narrow-Leafed Lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.)

“…Thus, the European land climate experienced rapid warming in recent decades, resulting in the mean year temperature surge to approximately 2 • C above the 1910-1960 average (NOAA, 2020). Climate warming raised multiple challenging issues for grain legume breeders, including higher water deficits and severe drought periods, propagation of pests and diseases as well as de-regulation of temperature-based control of growth and development processes (Vadez et al, 2012;Scheelbeek et al, 2018;Lippmann et al, 2019). Affected regulatory pathways include, among others, the flowering time control (Nelson et al, 2010).…”

The Heat is On: How Crops Respond to High Temperature

“…Some species, however, react differently to elevated ambient temperatures during vegetative growth. For example, soybean does not exhibit big changes during vegetative development at higher temperatures (Choi, Ban, Seo, Lee, & Lee, 2016;Lippmann et al, 2019).…”

“…Heat stress is defined as the increase in temperature above a critical threshold for a period of time sufficient to cause irreversible damage to plant growth and development, even death, which is frequently occurring during a hot season. Moderately high temperature causes morphological or photosynthetic changes that together are likely to contribute to adaptive growth acclimation to otherwise detrimental high ambient temperature conditions (Lippmann, Babben, Menger, Delker, & Quint, 2019;Quint et al, 2016;Vu, Xu, Gevaert, & De Smet, 2019). Unlike warm temperature acclimation during vegetative development, (early) reproductive development is more vulnerable to moderately warm temperature, which directly causes grain yield reduction (Draeger et al, 2020;Hedhly, Hormaza, & Herrero, 2009).…”

Is the forest biomass a key regulator of global warming?: A mathematical modelling study

“…Zhao et al (2019) investigated the negative effect of warming on plant biomass and ecosystem respiration in a Tibetan alpine steppe. Growth of wild animals and cultivated plant under global warming has been reported by Lippmann et al (2019). Paletto et al (2019) studied the effects of biomass power plants to increase the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies.…”