Analysis of the role of Heat shock factors and Mediator subunits in heat stress memory in Arabidopsis thaliana In nature plants often encounter biotic and abiotic stresses which can cause reduced crop yield and quality and threaten the nutrition of a growing human population. As heat stress (HS) is one of the main abiotic stresses and is projected to increase due to global warming it is necessary to better understand how plants respond and survive under HS. In Arabidopsis thaliana plants can survive under severe HS if primed by a non lethal HS a process called acquisition of thermotolerance. This primed stated can be maintained for several days and the ability of plants to maintain the primed state is called maintenance of acquired thermotolerance (mATT) or HS memory. According to current research two Heat shock factors (HSFs) HSFA2 and HSFA3 are known to account for the majority of mATT capability and there are other HSFs e.g. HSFA1b and HSFA6b in HSF complexes containing HSFA2 and or HSFA3 however the roles of these HSFs in HS memory is not clearly understood. Moreover the mechanism of these HSFs in regulating HS memory is ...