Activation and memory of the heatshock response is mediated by Prion-like domains in Arabidopsis [ChIP-seq]

The heatshock factors (HSFs) play a crucial role in this process, but the mechanisms by which plants sense heat stress are not well understood. We find that HSFs act in a network, with sensory HSFs having a modular Prion-domain (PrD) structure that confers temperature dependent phase change behaviour. To investigate the network of heat shock factors (HSFs) in Arabidopsis and the function of prion-like domains (PrDs) of HSFA1a, we generated transgenic lines for all 21 HSFs with flag tags and transgenic lines with PrD deletions in the HSFA1a. Plants were grown at 22 ºC and then either shifted to 37 ºC or maintained at 22 ºC.