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Low temperature is a critical environmental stress factor that restricts crop growth and geographical distribution, significantly impacting crop quality and yield. When plants are exposed to low temperatures, a series of changes occur in their external morphology and internal physiological and biochemical metabolism. This article comprehensively reviews the alterations and regulatory mechanisms of physiological and biochemical indices, such as membrane system stability, redox system, fatty acid content, photosynthesis, and osmoregulatory substances, in response to low-temperature stress in plants. Furthermore, we summarize recent research on signal transduction and regulatory pathways, phytohormones, epigenetic modifications, and other molecular mechanisms mediating the response to low temperatures in higher plants. In addition, we outline cultivation practices to improve plant cold resistance and highlight the cold-related genes used in molecular breeding. Last, we discuss future research directions, potential application prospects of plant cold resistance breeding, and recent significant breakthroughs in the research and application of cold resistance mechanisms.

The red swamp crayfish ( Procambarus clarkii ) is one of the important freshwater aquaculture species in China, but its growth and development are greatly affected by temperature, which makes it difficult to expand its aquaculture range to the northern regions of China. The composition of gut microbes plays a vital role in resisting environmental pressure, and is also an important driving factor for amino acid metabolism in the body. However, little is known about the relationship between microorganisms, metabolism, and cold-resistance ability of P. clarkii . In this study, we performed the cold-resistance and antioxidant ability test, gut microbiota diversity analysis, quantitative analysis of histamine, and bioinformatics analysis of histamine receptor (HR) family on P. clarkii . The results showed that the cold-resistance crayfish exhibited high antioxidant ability and low gut microbiota diversity after acute cold stress. Next, we also found that there was significant correlation between the Lactobacilli genus and histamine abundance, indicating that the excellent cold tolerance ability of crayfish may stem from the degradation of histamine by Lactobacilli . Finally, it was revealed that HR genes had considerable quantity of gene copies, conservative evolution in crustacean lineages and expression differences in low-temperature tolerant populations. These results suggested that the diversity of Lactobacillus mediated changes in histamine metabolism affect antioxidant capacity, which is one of the reasons why P. clarkii exhibits cold resistance ability. This finding provided a theoretical basis for understanding the microorganism-histamine regulation mechanism of red swamp crayfish under cold stress, promoting the breeding and healthy culture of cold-resistance strain.

In China, ninety percent of the varieties of V. vinifera are protected from the cold by burying the vines for safe over-wintering, a labor-intensive practice that restricts the sustainable development of the grape and wine industry. An alternative solution is to breed cold-resistant varieties that can tolerate the local climatic conditions. The conventional cold-resistant breeding of grapes worldwide is mainly performed by the cross-breeding of wild species or V. labrusca and V. vinifera, so that new varieties obtain major cold-resistance genes from wild species or V. labrusca but maintain the high-quality genes of V. vinifera. However, there seems to be a close linkage between the major cold-resistance genes and the genes that control the poor characteristics of wild species or V. labrusca. The fruit traits of the hybrid progenies were unable to completely overcome the inheritance of the inferior traits of the wild parent or American parent. For grape genetic improvement for quality and disease-resistance, we propose use of minor-polygenes substitution and accumulation (MPSA) and intraspecific recurrent selection in V. vinifera (IRSV). “Ecolly” bred by this method has strong disease-, cold-, and drought- resistance, and is an excellent variety for brewing dry white wine and distilled spirits. At − 20 °C, the freezing damage degree of 50% winter buds of Ecolly ranged from 0.7 to 1.0, while the damage degree of Chardonnay ranged from 1.7 to 2.0. Thus, the variety is widely cultivated in many soil-burial over-wintering areas, but does not need to be buried to survive over-wintering. In summary, Ecolly is a successful case demonstrating the effectiveness of MPSA and IRSV for cold-resistance grape breeding, which provide a new thought for breeding new grapevine variety with cold resistance and quality brewing characteristics.

The rubber tree is the primary source of natural rubber and is mainly cultivated in Southeast Asian countries. Low temperature is the major abiotic stress affecting the yield of the rubber tree. Therefore, uncovering the cold resistance mechanism in the rubber tree is necessary. The present study used RNA-sequencing technology and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) to analyze the transcriptomic and metabolomic changes in two rubber tree clones with different cold resistance capacities (temperature-sensitive Reyan 8-79 and cold-resistant Yunyan 77-4) at 0 h, 2 h, 6 h, and 20 h of exposure to 4°C. Independent analysis of the transcriptome and metabolitome showed that under prolonged low-temperature treatment, Yunyan 77-4 expressed more genes involved in regulating enzyme activity, changing cell permeability, and synthesizing significant metabolites, such as flavonoids and amino acids, than Reyan 8-79. The KEGG annotation and enrichment analysis identified arginine metabolism and biosynthesis of flavonoids as the major pathway associated with cold resistance. Integrated transcriptome and metabolome analysis showed that the increase in the expression of genes modulated flavonoid biosynthesis, arginine biosynthesis, and anthocyanins biosynthesis, resulting in higher levels of metabolites, such as naringenin chalcone, apigenin, dihydroquercetin, cyanidin 3-glucoside, L-arginosuccinate, N-acetyl-ornithine, ornithine, and N-acetyl-glutamate, in Yunyan 77-4 than in Reyan 8-79 after prolonged low-temperature treatment. Phylogenetic analysis identified the genes, such as CHS ( gene356 ) and F3H ( gene33147 ) of flavonoid biosynthesis and NAGS ( gene16028, gene33765 ), ArgC ( gene2487 ), and ASS ( gene6161 ) of arginine biosynthesis were the key genes involved in the cold resistant of rubber tree. Thus, the present study provides novel insights into how rubber clones resist cold and is a valuable reference for cold-resistance breeding.

Cold stress is a critical factor affecting rice production worldwide. The application of cold-resistant agents may improve the cold resistance and yield of crops. To screen for suitable cold-resistant agents for machine-transplanted early rice, the effects of uniconazole, abscisic acid, and zinc-amino acids chelate and their spraying times (seed soaking stage, one leaf and one heart stage, two leaves and one heart stage, 7 days before the transplanting stage, and regreening stage) on the yield and cold resistance of machine-transplanted early rice were investigated. Moreover, the application method (spraying amount: 750 and 1125 g ha −1 ; spraying time: 7 days before the transplanting stage, transplanting stage, regreening stage, and transplanting stage and regreening stage) for the most suitable cold-resistant agent was optimized. The zinc-amino acids chelate was better than the other two cold-resistant agents for promoting rice tillering and increasing the leaf area index, dry matter weight, antioxidant enzyme activities (CAT, SOD, POD) and yield (i.e., 9.22% and 7.14% higher than uniconazole and abscisic acid, respectively), especially when it was applied in the regreening stage. The examination of spraying amounts and times indicated that the zinc-amino acids chelate dosage had no significant effect on the yield and cold resistance of early rice. However, the rice yield and antioxidant enzyme activities were highest when samples were sprayed once in the transplanting stage and the regreening stage. On the basis of the study results, 750 g ha −1 zinc-amino acids chelate applications in the transplanting and regreening stages of machine-transplanted early rice plants may be ideal for increasing cold stress resistance and yield.

Plumbago indica L. is a perennial herb with ornamental and anticancer medicinal functions widely distributed in the tropics. It is affected by temperature and cannot bloom normally in colder subtropical regions, which seriously affects its ornamental value. To create low-temperature resistance mutants and enrich new germplasm resources, this study used tissue culture and chemical reagent (0.5 mmol/L NaN 3 ) and low-temperature stress (0°C, full darkness for 48h) induction to target and screen for cold-resistance mutants. The results showed that the ISSR band polymorphism ratio of the 24 suspected mutant materials was 87.5%. The DNA profiles of the 9 mutants initially identified were altered. The content of plumbagin in the stems and leaves of the mutants was examined, and it was found that the accumulation in the leaves of the mutant SA24 could be as high as 3.84 times that of the control, which was 0.5991%. There were significant differences in the anatomical structures of roots, stems and leaves. The mutants mostly exhibited reduced root diameter (only 0.17-0.69 times that of CK), increased stem diameter (up to 2.19 times that of CK), enlarged mesophyll cells, increased thickness (up to 1.83 times that of CK) and high specificity, which are thought to be important for the different cold resistance obtained by the mutants. In the cold resistance experiment, four cold-tolerant mutants were successfully screened according to their morphological characteristics and physiological indexes, and the mutagenesis efficiency could be as high as 2.22% and did not affect the accumulation of plumbagin in their stems and leaves, even higher than CK. The responses of the screened mutants SA15, SA19, SA23 and SA24 to low temperature showed slower leaf wilting, higher light energy conversion efficiency, less accumulation of MDA content, increased enzymatic activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, POD) and more accumulation of soluble sugars and proline content. These characteristics are consistent with the response of cold-resistance plants to low temperatures. The cold- resistance mutants cultivated in soil were observed of agronomic and ornamental traits for one year, mainly manifested as delayed flowering and delayed entry into the senescence stage. This study provides a more rapid and accurate technique for identifying and screening cold-tolerant mutants, and lays the foundation for future experiments on the creation of new cold-resistant varieties.

Herein, we identified the tomato SlMYB102 gene as a MYB family transcription factor of the R2R3-MYB subfamily. We additionally determined that the SlMYB102 promoter region contains photoresponsive, abiotic stress-responsive, and hormone-responsive regulatory elements, and we detected higher SlMYB102 expression in the reproductive organs of tomato than that in vegetative organs, with the expression being highest in ripe fruits and in roots. SlMYB102 expression was also shown to be cold-inducible. The protein encoded by SlMYB102 localized to the nucleus wherein it was found to mediate the transcriptional activation of target genes through its C-terminal domain. Overexpression of SlMYB102 in tomato plants conferred enhanced tolerance to cold stress. Under such cold stress conditions, we found that proline levels in the leaves of SlMYB102 overexpressing transgenic plants were higher than those in WT plants. In addition, S1MYB102 overexpression was associated with the enhanced expression of cold response genes including SlCBF1, SlCBF3, SlDREB1, SlDEB2, and SlICE1 . We also found that the overexpression of SlMYB102 further enhanced the cold-induced upregulation of SlP5CS and SlAPX2. Taken together, these results suggest that SlMYB102 may be involved in the C-repeat binding transcription factor (CBF) and proline synthesis pathways, thereby improving tomato plant cold resistance.

To address the environmental concerns of oil shale waste (OSW) accumulation and improve road engineering sustainability, this paper proposes a novel cold resistance structure (CRS) incorporating extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation plates and OSW-modified soil. OSW primarily consists of two components: residual semi-coke from retorting processes and combustion-derived ash residues. The improper disposal of accumulated OSW poses significant environmental risks. Following a comprehensive feasibility assessment, this study identifies the application of OSW in highway subgrade construction as an eco-friendly solution that achieves triple objectives - waste valorization, pollution mitigation, and alleviation of material shortages in road infrastructure. Targeting the freeze-thaw challenges prevalent in northeast China’s road structures, the CRS system combines XPS insulation technology with OSW-modified subgrade soil through three key phases. First, the optimal XPS plate thickness was determined using thermal resistance equivalence principles. Second, controlled freeze-thaw experiments employing a specialized unidirectional testing system evaluated the CRS’s frost resistance through triplicate comparative trials. Third, field validation involved constructing a CRS test road and conducting in-situ assessments of bearing capacity and dynamic stress responses, with conventional sand-gravel subgrade sections serving as controls. Environmental impacts and economic viability were systematically analyzed. Results demonstrate that the CRS system reduces the subgrade freezing depth by up to 52.8%, limits surface water migration by over 60%, and decreases dynamic stress amplitudes by more than 50% compared to conventional structures. The effective stress buffering depth of the XPS insulation is equivalent to an 89.75 cm thick gravel layer, while subgrade deflection is reduced by 21%. Additionally, the CRS system achieves a 43% reduction in material cost per kilometer and enables the reuse of over 9300 tons of solid waste, offering both economic and environmental benefits.

Background Freezing injury, which is an important abiotic stress in horticultural crops, influences the growth and development and the production area of kiwifruit ( Actinidia Lind1). Among Actinidia species, Actinidia arguta has excellent cold resistance, but knowledge relevant to molecular mechanisms is still limited. Understanding the mechanism underlying cold resistance in kiwifruit is important for breeding cold resistance. Results In our study, a population resulting from the cross of A. arguta ‘Ruby-3’ × ‘Kuilv’ male was generated for kiwifruit hardiness study, and 20 cold-tolerant and 20 cold-sensitive populations were selected from 492 populations according to their LT50. Then, we performed bulked segregant RNA-seq combined with single-molecule real-time sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes that provide cold hardiness. We found that the content of soluble sucrose and the activity of β-amylase were higher in the cold-tolerant population than in the cold-sensitive population. Upon − 30 °C low-temperature treatment, 126 differentially expressed genes were identify; the expression of 59 genes was up-regulated and that of 67 genes was down-regulated between the tolerant and sensitive pools, respectively. KEGG pathway analysis showed that the DEGs were primarily related to starch and sucrose metabolism, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism. Ten major key enzyme-encoding genes and two regulatory genes were up-regulated in the tolerant pool, and regulatory genes of the CBF pathway were found to be differentially expressed. In particular, a 14–3-3 gene was down-regulated and an EBF gene was up-regulated . To validate the BSR-Seq results, 24 DEGs were assessed via qRT-PCR, and the results were consistent with those obtained by BSR-Seq. Conclusion Our research provides valuable insights into the mechanism related to cold resistance in Actinidia and identified potential genes that are important for cold resistance in kiwifruit.

Tobacco, a warm-season crop originating from the Americas, is highly susceptible to cold stress. The utilization of symbiotic fungi as a means to bolster crops’ resilience against abiotic stresses has been proven to be a potent strategy. In this study, we investigated the effect of endophytic fungus Piriformospora indica on the cold resistance of tobacco. When exposed to cold stress, the colonization of P.indica in tobacco roots effectively stimulates the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). This, in turn, reduces the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby mitigating oxidative damage. Additionally, P. indica elevates the levels of osmolytes, such as soluble sugars, proline, and soluble proteins, thus facilitating the restoration of osmotic balance. Under cold stress conditions, P. indica also induces the expression of cold-responsive genes. Furthermore, this fungus not only enhances photosynthesis in tobacco by stimulating the synthesis of photosynthetic pigments, strengthening Rubisco activity, and elevating PSII efficiency, but also fortifies tobacco’s nitrogen assimilation by inducing the expression of nitrate transporter gene and activating enzymes related to nitrogen assimilation. Consequently, this synergistic optimization of nitrogen and carbon assimilation provides a solid material and energetic foundation for tobacco plants to withstand cold stress. Our study demonstrates that a mycorrhizal association between P. indica and tobacco seedlings provides multifaceted protection to tobacco plants against low-temperature stress and offers a valuable insight into how P. indica enhances the cold tolerance of tobacco.