Senescence-Related Gene Expression Profiles of Rosette Leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana: Leaf Age Versus Plant Age

Abstract

Senescence is a form of programmed cell death (PCD) which leads to the death of whole organs, e.g., leaves or flowers, and eventually to the death of entire plants. Like all forms of PCD, senescence is a highly regulated and energy consuming process. Senescence parameters, like protein content, chlorophyll content, expression of photosynthesis-associated genes or senescence-associated genes (SAGs), reveal that senescence occurs in old leaves derived from young plants (6 week old) as well as in young leaves derived from older plants (8 week old), indicating that it is governed by the actual age of the leaves. In order to analyse the differential gene expression profiles during leaf senescence, hybridizations of high-density genome arrays were performed with: i) individual leaves within the rosette of a 6-week-old plant and ii) leaves of the same position within the rosette but harvested from plants of different ages, ranging from 5 to 8 weeks. Cluster and genetree analyses, according to the expression pattern revealed that genes which are up-regulated with respect to the age of the entire plant, showed completely different expression profiles with respect to the age of the individual leaves within one rosette. This was observed even though the actual difference in leaf age was approximately the same. This indicates that gene expression appears to be governed by different parameters: i) the age of the individual leaf and ii) the age and developmental stage of the entire plant.

Senescence - gene expression profiling - Affymetrix GeneChip® Array - cluster analyses - Arabidopsis thaliana.

References

• 1 Arnon D. I.. Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplast. Polyphenoloxidase in Beta vulgaris. .  Plant Physiol.. (1949);  24 1-15
• 2 Biswal B., Biswal U. C.. Leaf senescence: Physiology and molecular biology.  Curr. Science. (1999);  77 775-782
• 3 Bleecker A. B., Patterson S. E.. Last exit: Senescence, abscission, and meristem arrest in Arabidopsis. .  Plant Cell. (1997);  9 1169-1179
• 4 Bradford M. M.. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantification of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding.  Anal. Biochem.. (1976);  72 248-254
• 5 Buchanan-Wollaston V.. The molecular biology of leaf senescence.  J. Exp. Bot.. (1997);  307 181-199
• 6 Buchanan-Wollaston V., Earl S., Harrison E., Mathas E., Navabpour S., Page T., Pink D.. The molecular analyses of leaf senescence - a genomics approach.  Plant Biotech. J.. (2003);  1 3-22
• 7 Butt A., Mousley C., Morris K., Beynon J., Can C., Holub E., Greenberg J. T., Buchanan-Wollaston V.. Differential expression of a senescence-enhanced metallothionein gene in Arabidopsis in response to isolates of Peronospora parasitica and Pseudomonas syringae. .  Plant J.. (1998);  16 209-221
• 8 Chen W., Provart N. J., Glazebrook J., Katagiri F., Chang H. S., Euglem T., Mauch F., Luan S., Zou G., Whitham S. A., Budworth Y. T., Xie Z., Chen X., Lam S., Kreps J. A., Harper J. F., Si-Ammour A., Mauch-Mani B., Heinlein M., Kobayashi K., Hohn T., Dangl J. L., Wang X., Zhu T.. Expression profile matrix of Arabidopsis transcription factor genes suggests their putative functions in response to environmental stresses.  Plant Cell. (2002);  14 559-574
• 9 Gan S. S., Amasino R. M.. Making sense of senescence - Molecular genetic regulation and manipulation of leaf senescence.  Plant Physiol.. (1997);  113 313-319
• 10 Greenberg J. T.. Programmed cell death: a way of life for plants.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. (1996);  93 12094-12097
• 11 Hadfield K. A., Bennett A. B.. Programmed senescence of plant organs.  Cell Death and Differention. (1997);  4 662-670
• 12 Hanfrey C., Fife M., Buchanan-Wollaston V.. Leaf senescence in Brassica napus: expression of genes encoding pathogenesis-related proteins.  Plant Mol. Biol.. (1996);  30 597-609
• 13 Hensel L. L., Grbic V., Baumgarten D. A., Bleecker A. D.. Developmental and age-related processes that influence the longevity and senescence of photosynthetic tissues in Arabidopsis. .  Plant Cell. (1993);  5 553-564
• 14 Hinderhofer K., Zentgraf U.. Identification of a transcription factor specifically expressed at the onset of leaf senescence.  Planta. (2001);  213 469-473
• 15 Kay R., Chan A., Damy M., McPherson J.. Duplication of CaMV 35 S promoter sequences creates a strong enhancer for plant genes.  Science. (1987);  236 1299-1302
• 16 Lohman K. N., Gan S., John M. C., Amasino R. M.. Molecular analysis of natural leaf senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana. .  Physiol. Plant.. (1994);  92 322-328
• 17 Nam H. G.. The molecular genetic analysis of leaf senescence.  Curr. Opin. Biotechnol.. (1997);  8 200-207
• 18 Noh Y. S., Amasino R. M.. Identification of a promoter region responsible for the senescence-specific expression of Sag12.  Plant Mol. Biol.. (1999);  41 181-194
• 19 Noodén L. D., Guiamét J. J., John I.. Senescence mechanisms.  Physiol. Plant.. (1997);  101 746-753
• 20 Oh S. A., Lee S. Y., Chung I. K., Lee C. H., Nam H. G.. A senescence-associated gene of Arabidopsis thaliana is distinctively regulated during natural and artificially induced leaf senescence.  Plant Mol. Biol.. (1996);  30 739-754
• 21 Pearson D., Vazirani V. V.. Efficient Sequential and Parallel Algorithms for Maximal Bipartite Sets.  J. Algorithms. (1993);  14 171-179
• 22 Pennell R., Lamb C.. Programmed cell death in plants.  Plant Cell. (1997);  9 1157-1168
• 23 Quirino B. F., Noh Y. S., Himelblau E., Amasino R. M.. Molecular aspects of leaf senescence.  Trends Plant Sci.. (2000);  5 278-282

Section Editor: B. Piechulla