ANAC087 transcription factor positively regulates age-dependent leaf senescence through modulating the expression of multiple target genes in Arabidopsis.

Leaf senescence is the final stage of leaf development and appropriate onset and progression of leaf senescence are critical for reproductive success and fitness. Although great progress has been made in identifying key genes regulating leaf senescence and elucidating the underlining mechanisms in model plant Arabidopsis, there is still a gap to understand the complex regulatory network. In this study, we discovered that Arabidopsis ANAC087 transcription factor (TF) positively modulated leaf senescence. Expression of ANAC087 was induced in senescing leaves and the encoded protein acted as a transcriptional activator. Both constitutive and inducible overexpression lines of ANAC087 showed earlier senescence than control plants, whereas T-DNA insertion mutation and dominant repression of ANAC087 delayed senescence rate. A qRT-PCR profiling showed that expression of an array of senescence-associated genes were up-regulated in inducible ANAC087 overexpression plants including BFN1, NYE1, CEP1, RbohD, SAG13, SAG15 and VPEs, which are involved in programmed cell death (PCD), chlorophyll degradation and reactive active oxygen (ROS) accumulation. In addition, EMSA and ChIP-qPCR assays demonstrated that ANAC087 directly bound to the canonical NAC recognition sequence (NACRS) motif in promoters of its target genes. Moreover, mutation of two representative target genes, BFN1 or NYE1 alleviated the senescence rate of ANAC087-overexpression plants, suggesting their genetic regulatory relationship. Taken together, this study indicates that ANAC087 serves as an important regulator linking PCD, ROS, chlorophyll degradation to leaf senescence. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.