A WRKY transcription factor, TaWRKY42-B, facilitates initiation of leaf senescence by promoting jasmonic acid biosynthesis

BMC Plant Biology

Yong-Wei Liu¹  Shuo Zhou¹  Ming-Ming Zhao²  Xiao-Wen Zhang²  Ke Li²  Qi Tan²  Chun-Jiang Zhou²  Geng Wang² 

[1] Institute of Genetics and Physiology, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences /Plant Genetic Engineering Center of Hebei Province, 050051, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China;Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Molecular and Cell Biology, Hebei Collaboration Innovation Center for Cell Signaling, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, 050024, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China;

关键词: Leaf senescence;    WRKYs;    JA;    Transcriptional regulation;    Wheat;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-020-02650-7

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundLeaf senescence comprises numerous cooperative events, integrates environmental signals with age-dependent developmental cues, and coordinates the multifaceted deterioration and source-to-sink allocation of nutrients. In crops, leaf senescence has long been regarded as an essential developmental stage for productivity and quality, whereas functional characterization of candidate genes involved in the regulation of leaf senescence has, thus far, been limited in wheat.ResultsIn this study, we analyzed the expression profiles of 97 WRKY transcription factors (TFs) throughout the progression of leaf senescence in wheat and subsequently isolated a potential regulator of leaf senescence, TaWRKY42-B, for further functional investigation. By phenotypic and physiological analyses in TaWRKY42-B-overexpressing Arabidopsis plants and TaWRKY42-B-silenced wheat plants, we confirmed the positive role of TaWRKY42-B in the initiation of developmental and dark-induced leaf senescence. Furthermore, our results revealed that TaWRKY42-B promotes leaf senescence mainly by interacting with a JA biosynthesis gene, AtLOX3, and its ortholog, TaLOX3, which consequently contributes to the accumulation of JA content. In the present study, we also demonstrated that TaWRKY42-B was functionally conserved with AtWRKY53 in the initiation of age-dependent leaf senescence.ConclusionOur results revealed a novel positive regulator of leaf senescence, TaWRKY42-B, which mediates JA-related leaf senescence via activation of JA biosynthesis and has the potential to be a target gene for molecular breeding in wheat.

【 授权许可】

CC BY