Activation and memory of the heatshock response is mediated by Prion-like domains in Arabidopsis [RNA-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 function of prion-like domains (PrDs) of HSFA1a under basal and acquired heat stress: we generated transgenic lines for PrD deletions in the HSFA1a. Plants were grown at 22 ºC and then either shifted to 37 ºC or maintained at 22 ºC. C: no heat stress day 7 (Control) R: recovery at 22C after 37C on day 4 for 5 min (Recovery) T: 37C on day 7 for 5 min (Triger) PT: 37C for 5 min on day 4 and day 7 (Primes + Triger) QK: hsfa1abde (QK)