Low temperature is an abiotic stress that adversely affects the growth and production of plants. Resistance and adaptation of plants to cold stress is dependent upon the activation of molecular networks and pathways involved in signal transduction and the regulation of cold-stress related genes. Because it has numerous and complex genes, regulation factors, and pathways, research on the ICE-CBF-COR signaling pathway is the most studied and detailed, which is thought to be rather important for cold resistance of plants. In this review, we focus on the function of each member, interrelation among members, and the influence of manipulators and repressors in the ICE-CBF-COR pathway. In addition, regulation and signal transduction concerning plant hormones, circadian clock, and light are discussed. The studies presented provide a detailed picture of the ICE-CBF-COR pathway.

Adverse environmental conditions limit various aspects of plant growth, productivity, and ecological distribution. To get more insights into the signaling pathways under low temperature, we identified 10 C-repeat binding factors (), 9 inducer of CBF expression () and 10 cold-responsive () genes from - composite group under cold stress. Conserved amino acids analysis revealed that all CBF, ICE, COR contained specific and typical functional domains. Phylogenetic analysis of CBF proteins from showed that these CBF homologs were divided into 11 groups. CBFs from were found in every group, which shows that these CBFs generated prior to the divergence of the subfamilies of . The evolutionary relationship among the ICE and COR proteins in were divided into four groups with high multispecies specificity, respectively. Moreover, expression analysis revealed that mRNA accumulation was altered by cold treatment and the genes of three types involved in the ICE-CBF-COR signaling pathway were induced by cold stress. Together, the results make ,, genes family in more abundant, and provide a starting point for future studies on transcriptional regulatory network for improvement of chilling tolerance in crop.

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