Chlamydomonas heat stress response

Heat waves occurring at increased frequency as a consequence of global warming jeopardize crop yield safety. One way to encounter this problem is to genetically engineer crop plants toward increased thermotolerance. To identify entry points for genetic engineering, a thorough understanding of how plant cells perceive heat stress and respond to it is required. Using the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a model system to study the fundamental mechanisms of the plant heat stress response has several advantages. Most prominent among them is the suitability of Chlamydomonas for studying stress responses system‐wide and in a time‐resolved manner under controlled conditions. Here we review current knowledge on how heat is sensed and signaled to trigger temporally and functionally grouped sub‐responses termed response elements to prevent damage and to maintain cellular homeostasis in plant cells.