Lentils are an important part of our diet worldwide. As reported byFAOSTAT, in 2013 the global production of lentils was 4,975,621 metric tons. This food source is known to grow in the cold season in temperate semi-arid parts of the world, spanning North America to Australia. Though, some breeds are unable to survive the frosts of winter, causing concern for agriculturalists attempting to grow these crops in high latitudes.

越来越需要种植能够在寒冷环境中生长的小扁豆。这项全球需求正在由来自Departamento de Biología Molecular- Universidad de León,Agricultura y Ganadería, andEscuela Universitaria de Ingeniería Agrícolain Spain and atGenxproin Germany. The scientists are investigating the gene sequences that are responsible for cold tolerance in lentils.

Plants which can tolerate low temperatures have developed biological adaptions to increase their resilience to the cold. This includes the alteration of their cell membranes, photosynthesis processes, and their gene expression. Of particular interest, are the sets of genes responsible for the tolerance that certain lentil breeds have towards cold and frost.

揭示控制这种耐受性的调节蛋白很重要，因为这些代表了哪些基因打开或关闭的“转录因子”。低温引起的压力环境（例如霜冻）可能会导致基因管理方式的变化。

In this recently published study, Dr Barrios and the team set out to observe the changing gene expression of lentils in response to cold acclimation. Their aim was to find out which lentil breeds could be considered ‘cold tolerant’ or ‘cold susceptible’ depending on the responses to varying temperatures ranging from -3degC to -15degC.

在低温下，几乎所有植物都在最小的叶子损伤中幸存下来。但是，随着温度进一步降低，植物显示出越来越不同的损害。使用深层超级转录组技术分析具有最高和最低损伤的叶子，以提取其Messenger RNA序列。这些序列是整个分子网络中的“使者”，从DNA转化了遗传信息。

The plants that were less cold tolerant were named “acclimated susceptible”, while those that were better adapted were “acclimated tolerant”. For full comparison, these were compared against non-acclimatized (non-adapted) versions of the cold susceptible and tolerant types.

结果年代howed that the plants that were more acclimated to the cold tended to have an over expression (enhanced activity) of particular gene sets. These were the genes responsible for the production of the amino acids glycine and proline, the maintenance of the plant cell membrane, and the genes that manage photosynthesis.

By finding that these particular gene sets play a key role for the adaption to cold temperatures, this provides opportunistic groundwork for further investigation of the frost tolerance of lentils. Future research may benefit the agricultural industry by helping to boost crop yields in high latitudes of the world.