Multi-scale thermal homeostasis: Plants achieve temperature control through hierarchical regulation

Abstract

Abstract Temperature fundamentally impacts plants growth and physiology. However, the mechanisms by which plants sense and response to environmental changes remain unclear due to the lack of effective methods for measuring internal plant temperatures. Here, by combining lab-made nanothermometric probes with time-gated imaging technique, we accurately detected the change in internal plant temperature in response to environmental temperature variations. We discovered a multilevel temperature regulation mechanism during the process by which plants establish thermal homeostasis. In Nicotiana benthamiana leaves, when environment temperature changes from approximately 24°C to 45°C, the maximum of internal plant temperature change is only approximately 10°C near cell wall, and less than 7°C in cytoplasm, while remaining nearly constant in chloroplasts (ΔTchl ≈ 1°C). Similar compartment-specific thermal regulation was observed in Arabidopsis thaliana and tomato, indicating that hierarchical regulation represents a conserved strategy for maintaining internal temperature stability in plants. Together, these findings provide direct evidence for multiscale thermal homeostasis in plants and establish a framework for understanding how cellular and subcellular organization contributes to temperature regulation.

Plant phenotyping relevance

ナノ温度計プローブと時間ゲート imaging により植物内部温度を測定する手法が研究の中心であり、植物の生理状態を直接定量している。

Code and data availability

The paper describes lab-made nanothermometric probes and time-gated imaging measurements of internal plant temperature, but no public phenotype dataset, image/sensor data deposit, analysis code, or trained model is provided. The only availability statement is 'All data are available in the main text or the supplemental

No evidence-backed public reproduction asset is currently recorded.