Novel roles of HSFs and HSPs, other than heat stress, in temperature-mediated flowering.

The thermotolerant ability of HSF/HSPs in plants has been portrayed. Lately, their function in plant growth and development under nonstress conditions has been focused upon. Recently, their role in flowering has been suggested as lower levels of HSF/HSPs resulted in altered flowering in Arabidopsis. Genetic and molecular studies of Arabidopsis HSF/HSP mutants advocated the association of temperature-mediated regulation of flowering, but the fundamental genetic mechanism behind this phenomenon is yet obscure. Here we outline plausible integration between HSF/HSPs and temperature-dependent pathways in plants regulating flowering. Moreover, we discuss how similar pathways can be present in thermoperiodic geophytic plants that require ambient high temperatures for flowering induction.