Discovery of Heat-Sensing Gene in Plants Could Help Tune Their Temperature Response Written by AZoCleantechApr 7 2021 Global warming can decrease crop yields by one-third by 2050. Scientists from the University of California, Riverside have discovered a gene that could reverse this effect. Drastic differences in mutant Arabidopsis seedlings grown at warm temperatures. Image Credit: Meng Chen/UCR. The plants get an indication from warmer temperatures that summer is about to begin. They expect less water and flower earlier, and hence there is a shortage of energy to produce more seeds. This leads to a decrease in crop yields. This is cause for concern because the world’s population is anticipated to inflate to 10 billion, having much less food to eat.