Temperature changes affect the immune response of plants to pathogens. Low temperature promotes the immune response of plants, which may involve the plant hormone salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathway. However, the potential mechanisms by which low-temperature signals coordinate SA signaling to regulate plant immune responses are not fully understood.

The Plant Environmental Adaptability Research Group of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed the molecular mechanism of low temperature enhancing plant immune response, and confirmed that the core transcription factor ICE1 of low-temperature signal cascade reaction is essential for the immune response of Arabidopsis thaliana to Pseudomonas syringae under low temperature. Mechanism studies have found that ICE1 interacts with SA receptor NPR1 and key transcription factor TGA3 to form protein complexes and positively regulate SA mediated immune responses. ICE1 directly binds to the promoter of the downstream response gene PR1 in SA and activates its transcription, while NPR1 and TGA3 can enhance ICE1's transcriptional activation of PR1. Furthermore, phenotype analysis indicates that ICE1 is a key regulatory node for low temperature and salicylic acid signaling, integrating low temperature and SA signaling to enhance the immune response of Arabidopsis to pathogens. This study revealed a new function of ICE1 in regulating plant immune response and analyzed the role of NPR1-TGA3/ICE1 module in plant resistance to pathogen infection under low temperature conditions. Analyzing the key role of ICE1 in coordinating environmental signals related to immune responses can broaden scientists' understanding of plant pathogen environment interactions.

The related research results are titled INDUCER OF CBF EXPRESSION 1 promotes cold enhanced immunity by directly activating salicylic acid signaling and published in The Plant Cell. The research work has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Yunnan Province Applied Basic Research Program.

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A working model of ICE1 regulating the immune response of Arabidopsis to pathogens