Nuclear auxin signaling and temperature: perception and response across scales

Temperature shapes plant biology, affecting everything from molecular biophysics to whole-organism development. Because plant cellular temperature typically matches ambient conditions, cellular processes are inherently affected by temperature. Plants continuously integrate thermal cues in growth and development decisions. Auxin signaling is central to this integration, coordinating transcriptional, physiological, and morphological responses during thermomorphogenesis. Here, we synthesize how temperature modulates auxin signaling across scales. At the biophysical level, temperature alters protein conformation, interaction kinetics, and phase behavior, influencing key interactions such as TIR1/AFB-Aux/IAA binding and ARF oligomerization. Many of the temperature-sensing pathways affect auxin biosynthesis, transport, partitioning, and signal transduction, ultimately shaping thermomorphogenic growth. In this review, we explore these findings that position auxin signaling as a direct and key integrator of temperature information.