Plant Responses to a Daily Short-term Temperature Drop: Phenomenology and Mechanisms

The review analyzes and generalizes literary data and the authors’ results demonstrating the principal difference in plant responses to low-temperature treatments of two different types: (1) long-term constant chilling and (2) short-term daily cooling (temperature drop). The literature indicating the specificity of plant responses to temperature drops as related to their parameters (intensity, duration, and timing in a diurnal cycle) is discussed. Environmental effects on plant responses to temperature drops are also considered. Peculiarity of responses to temperature drops of the plants representing the groups different in their relation to temperature and light are analyzed. Physiological and biochemical mechanisms of plant responses to temperature drops are discussed.