A C-repeat binding factor-salicylic acid (CBF-SA) module links wound-induced evaporative cooling to tissue repair in plants.

Abstract

Repairing damaged tissues is essential for the survival of all organisms. In plants, tissue injury rapidly triggers defense and repair programs. However, the molecular mechanisms linking early injury cues to the later stage of wound repair remain unclear. Here, we show that wounding of Arabidopsis leaves induces localized low temperature at the injury site, likely caused by evaporative cooling, which is accompanied by an activation of cold-responsive genes. Using thermal imaging combined with computer vision and deep learning, we developed a workflow to monitor the dynamics of wound healing in a quantitative, non-invasive, and real-time manner. Mechanistically, we show that C-repeat Binding Factor (CBF) transcription factors are required for the activation of the injury-associated cold response and downstream salicylic acid (SA) signaling. Our findings suggest that the CBF-SA pathway acts coordinately to promote lignin and callose deposition, thereby facilitating wound repair. Together, these findings reveal a link between a wound-induced biophysical cue and the tissue repair program.

Code and data availability

The supplied blocks describe thermal/RGB imaging phenotyping and a deep learning wound-detection workflow, but no public deposit of the authors' images, annotations, trained models, or analysis code is stated. Data availability mentions only Supporting Information tables and an RNA-seq GEO accession (molecular omics, a

No evidence-backed public reproduction asset is currently recorded.