Repeated heat waves trigger divergent transcriptional responses in cold- and warm-adapted yeast species

Repeated heat waves induce divergent transcriptional responses in cold- and warm-adapted Saccharomyces yeast species, with species-specific memory-like gene regulation patterns.

• Why it matters: Understanding how different species respond at the molecular level to repeated heat stress is essential for predicting their resilience amid increasing climate change-induced heat waves.
• What they did: Eight Saccharomyces species with varying thermal tolerances were exposed to repeated heat waves, and their phenotypic and transcriptomic responses were compared, focusing on gene expression patterns and memory-like responses.
• The result: Warm-adapted species maintained higher growth and showed conserved proteostasis responses, while memory-like responses varied species-specifically, revealing divergent gene regulatory strategies linked to thermal tolerance.