UBC Scientists Identify Genetic Toggle That Allows Crops to Resume Growth After Extreme Weather

UBC researchers identify the CDKA;1 gene as a growth toggle, enabling crops to "pause" during extreme weather and recover quickly for harvest.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 13, 2026, 7:31 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from University of British Columbia

Biological Pause Button Discovered in Response to Climate Extremes

New research from the University of British Columbia department of botany has revealed that plants possess a sophisticated "pause and play" mechanism to navigate environmental stress. According to a study published in New Phytologist, plants intentionally halt root growth when faced with extreme cold or high salt levels, such as those found in flooded coastal fields. Lead author Olivia Hazelwood explains that this adaptation allows the plant to conserve energy and protect vital structures during a crisis. Once the environmental stressor is removed, the plant enters a recovery phase, effectively resuming its life cycle to ensure it can still produce food by the harvest season.

The Role of CDKA;1 in Regulating Cellular Recovery

The study pinpointed a specific gene, Cyclin-dependent Kinase A;1 (CDKA;1), as the master regulator of this growth cycle. By using fluorescently marked proteins to track cellular division, researchers observed that proteins associated with growth significantly diminished during periods of cold, salt, or drought stress. However, these protein levels returned to baseline within 24 hours of the plant being returned to optimal conditions. The team found that when the CDKA;1 gene was inhibited, the plants lost their ability to recover, highlighting its critical role as the genetic switch that allows crops to bounce back from weather related trauma.

Fast Forwarding Growth to Combat Rising Temperatures

In addition to the "pause" response seen in cold and salt conditions, researchers identified a "fast forward" tactic utilized during heat stress. Senior author Dr. Arif Ashraf noted that plants accelerate certain growth processes when temperatures spike, followed by a pause until the environment cools. This dynamic response, which the team also describes as "pause and push" in the context of drought recovery, suggests that plants have a diverse toolkit of temporal strategies to deal with different types of weather. While drought recovery takes longer than recovery from cold, the underlying genetic pathways appear to be consistently utilized across various stressors.