A plant cold-induced uncoupling protein

In mammals, body temperature can be raised by the action of uncoupling proteins (UCPs), which dissipate the proton electrochemical gradient across the inner mitochondrial membrane to produce heat rather than synthesize ATP1. Any similar mechanism of thermogenesis in plants is not so well understood. We have now identifiedcomplementary DNA from potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) that encodes a plant uncoupling protein, named StUCP, which is induced by cold treatment and so may be involved in thermoregulation in plants.