Thermotolerance is a biological process by which cells, tissues, or organisms acquire the capacity to survive and maintain function under elevated temperatures that would otherwise be lethal or damaging. It involves coordinated molecular responses including induction of heat shock proteins and molecular chaperones, stabilization of protein structure, remodeling of membranes, modulation of reactive oxygen species detoxification systems, and activation of protective signaling pathways such as heat shock factor (HSF)-mediated transcription. Thermotolerance can be constitutive or inducible, often developing after a mild heat pretreatment, and contributes to cellular homeostasis, proteostasis, and integrity of critical processes such as DNA replication, transcription, translation, and photosynthesis under thermal stress.
If you visit the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, on the edge of London, you will see a brightly painted skeleton of a dead oak tree. The tree, known as the climate-changed oak, succumbed in the heat wave of 2022. Instead of ...
Ecology
Jul 9, 2026
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19
As heat waves continue one after another, we are feeling their effects on our own bodies: It becomes harder for us to function normally. Trees also have their limits when temperatures are too high. Above a certain critical ...
Ecology
Jul 9, 2026
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39
Feeling hot at home may seem like a simple matter of temperature or whether the air conditioning is switched on. But a new study suggests that less visible factors—from closed windows and blocked airflow to household routines ...
Environment
Jul 8, 2026
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10
As climate change warms rivers across British Columbia, young salmon are facing increasing heat stress at vulnerable stages of their lives. Two studies from UBC's Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation Lab have found that ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 29, 2026
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7
Like humans, wildlife is increasingly vulnerable as climate change fuels longer and more intense heat waves, disrupting feeding and breeding and, in extreme cases, proving fatal.
Environment
Jun 19, 2026
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27
University of Mississippi researchers are studying how plants respond to heat at the molecular level, an important consideration for farmers, businesses and policymakers as global temperatures rise.
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 15, 2026
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14
Bee species that nest in plant stems appear to be at the greatest short-term risk from increasing temperatures due to climate change, while those that nest in the ground are better able to evade extreme heat, according to ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 15, 2026
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29
A new study challenges a long-standing assumption about how cyanobacteria survive environmental stress. The study, led by researchers at the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR)—the Kinneret Limnological ...
Ecology
Jun 13, 2026
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31
As temperatures rise, New Zealand's dairy farmers face a growing challenge: keeping cows cool enough to remain productive. Heat stress can reduce milk production, harm animals and lower the environmental efficiency of dairy ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 12, 2026
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11
Rapidly intensifying global climate instability is causing increasingly erratic temperature fluctuations. When sudden cold snaps strike during a crop's critical flowering window, they trigger irreversible pollen abortion, ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 10, 2026
0
11
