The hypothesis that plants can benefit from a memory of past stress exposure has recently attracted a lot of attention. Here, we discuss two different examples of heat stress memory to elucidate the potential benefits that epigenetic responses may provide at both the level of acclimation of the individual plant and adaptation at a species-wide level. Specifically, we discuss how microRNAs regulate the heat stress memory and thereby increase survival upon a recurring heat stress. Secondly, we review how a prolonged heat stress in a small interfering RNA-deficient background induces retrotransposition that is transmitted to the next generation, thus creating genetic variation for natural selection to act on. Collectively, these studies reveal a crucial role of short RNAs in heat stress memory across different time scales.
Keywords: HS memory, heat stress, memory; HSF, heat shock transcription factor; HSP, heat shock protein; development; epigenetic silencing; heat stress; miRNA; miRNA, microRNA; priming; siRNA, small interfering RNA; stress memory; thermotolerance; transposon.