Regulatory stress memory and physiological legacy across temporal scales in long-lived trees
- 1State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China
- 2State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China; Corresponding authors.
- 3Núcleo de Estudios Ambientales, Facultad de Recursos Naturales, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Casilla 15-D, Temuco, Chile; Corresponding authors.
Abstract
Forest trees are increasingly exposed to recurrent, sequential, and combined climatic stresses, particularly drought and heatwaves. Because of their long lifespan, responses to environmental extremes are shaped not only by current conditions but also by prior stress exposure and post-stress recovery. History-dependent responses may therefore arise from regulatory stress memory, which modifies responses to subsequent stress, or from physiological legacies of incomplete recovery, residual damage, and resource limitation; these processes may interact, but physiological persistence alone does not demonstrate stress memory. This review integrates molecular, physiological, and ecological evidence to clarify how these processes interact across temporal and biological scales in long-lived trees. Evidence from Populus, Pinus , and other forest taxa highlights roles for transcriptional and epigenetic regulation, hormonal and metabolic reprogramming, hydraulic function, and carbon dynamics, while also revealing substantial gaps linking molecular persistence to long-term field performance. Within-generation stress memory is further distinguished from maternal, clonal, and potential transgenerational persistence, which are frequently conflated in the literature. An integrative framework is proposed in which stress history, recovery dynamics, and physiological state jointly determine whether prior exposure promotes acclimation, produces neutral carryover effects, or accelerates cumulative decline. Incorporating stress history into experimental designs, predictive models, breeding strategies, and forest management programs will improve assessments of forest resilience under accelerating climate change.
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BibTeX
@article{mian2026regulatory,
title = {{Regulatory stress memory and physiological legacy across temporal scales in long-lived trees}},
author = {Attaullah Mian and Yi Zhang and Patricio R. De los Rios-Escalante},
journal = {Plant Stress},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.stress.2026.101586},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stress.2026.101586},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Regulatory stress memory and physiological legacy across temporal scales in long-lived trees
AU - Attaullah Mian
AU - Yi Zhang
AU - Patricio R. De los Rios-Escalante
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Plant Stress
DO - 10.1016/j.stress.2026.101586
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stress.2026.101586
AB - Forest trees are increasingly exposed to recurrent, sequential, and combined climatic stresses, particularly drought and heatwaves. Because of their long lifespan, responses to environmental extremes are shaped not only by current conditions but also by prior stress exposure and post-stress recovery. History-dependent responses may therefore arise from regulatory stress memory, which modifies responses to subsequent stress, or from physiological legacies of incomplete recovery, residual damage, and resource limitation; these processes may interact, but physiological persistence alone does not demonstrate stress memory. This review integrates molecular, physiological, and ecological evidence to clarify how these processes interact across temporal and biological scales in long-lived trees. Evidence from Populus, Pinus , and other forest taxa highlights roles for transcriptional and epigenetic regulation, hormonal and metabolic reprogramming, hydraulic function, and carbon dynamics, while also revealing substantial gaps linking molecular persistence to long-term field performance. Within-generation stress memory is further distinguished from maternal, clonal, and potential transgenerational persistence, which are frequently conflated in the literature. An integrative framework is proposed in which stress history, recovery dynamics, and physiological state jointly determine whether prior exposure promotes acclimation, produces neutral carryover effects, or accelerates cumulative decline. Incorporating stress history into experimental designs, predictive models, breeding strategies, and forest management programs will improve assessments of forest resilience under accelerating climate change.
SN - 2667-064X
ER -