五彩繽紛的葉片是秋天裡一道美麗的風景線,這是由於葉片衰老過程中葉綠素降解和其它色素積累引起的。葉片衰老是一個程序化的物質降解,回收利用的過程,即分解後的營養物質和元素從衰老的葉片運輸至生長旺盛的葉子或果實、種子中。因此,植物衰老的進程可以大幅度地影響農業生產的效益,比如糧食的產量及其品質,據在主要作物(玉米, 大豆、棉花、水稻、小麥)上的估算,後期功能葉片晚衰一天,產量可增加2-10%。
葉片衰老受植物體內、外信號調節,氣體激素乙烯長期以來被認為是一種植物衰老激素,可顯著加速葉片的衰老,但其具體的分子作用機制不清楚。郭紅衛課題組最近在線發表在Plant Cell雜誌上的研究(Li et al. 2013, Plant Cell)首次報導了乙烯作為植物衰老激素的分子調控機理。他們發現乙烯信號通路的重要轉錄因子EIN3 在葉片衰老過程中的表達量和轉錄活性逐漸升高,其過表達植株和功能缺失突變體分別表現為葉片早衰和晚衰的表型。已有報導表明一個microRNA(miR164)在延緩葉片衰老中發揮重要的作用。他們發現EIN3直接調控了miR164的轉錄,從而抑制其在葉片衰老過程中的水平,進而促進了miR164 的靶基因NAC2的表達水平,最終加速了葉片衰老。
這項工作的並列第一作者是該實驗室博士後李中海和彭金英博士,該項目受到國家自然科學基金、國家博士後特別資助基金及生命科學聯合中心(CLS)博士後基金的支持。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦的英文摘要:
Plant Cell http://www.plantcell.org/content/25/9/3311.short
ETHYLENE-INSENSITIVE3 Is a Senescence-Associated Gene That Accelerates Age-Dependent Leaf Senescence by Directly Repressing miR164 Transcription in Arabidopsis
Zhonghai Lia,b,1, Jinying Penga,b,1, Xing Wena,b and Hongwei Guoa,b,2
Numerous endogenous and environmental signals regulate the intricate and highly orchestrated process of plant senescence. Ethylene is a well-known inducer of senescence, including fruit ripening and flower and leaf senescence. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of ethylene-induced leaf senescence remains to be elucidated. Here, we examine ETHYLENE-INSENSITIVE3 (EIN3), a key transcription factor in ethylene signaling, and find that EIN3 is a functional senescence-associated gene. Constitutive overexpression or temporary activation of EIN3 is sufficient to accelerate leaf senescence symptoms. Conversely, loss of EIN3 and EIN3-Like1 (its close homolog) function leads to a delay in age-dependent and ethylene-, jasmonic acid-, or dark-induced leaf senescence. We further found that EIN3 acts downstream of ORESARA2 (ORE2)/ORE3/EIN2 to repress miR164 transcription and upregulate the transcript levels of ORE1/NAC2, a target gene of miR164. EIN3 directly binds to the promoters of microRNA164 (miR164), and this binding activity progressively increases during leaf ageing. Genetic analysis revealed that overexpression of miR164 or knockout of ORE1/NAC2 represses EIN3-induced early-senescence phenotypes. Collectively, our study defines a continuation of the signaling pathway involving EIN2-EIN3-miR164-NAC2 in regulating leaf senescence and provides a mechanistic insight into how ethylene promotes the progression of leaf senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana.