Stay-green regulates chlorophyll and chlorophyll-binding protein degradation during senescence.
Stay-green mutants are delayed in leaf senescence and have been identified from different plant species, including many crops. Functional stay-greens have the potential to increase plant productivity. In cosmetic stay-greens, however, retention of chlorophyll during senescence is uncoupled from a decline of photosynthetic capacity in these mutants. For many cosmetic stay-green mutants, including Gregor Mendel's famous green cotyledon pea variety, molecular defects were recently identified in orthologous stay-green genes. Stay-green genes encode members of a new family of chloroplast-located proteins, which are likely to function in dismantling of photosynthetic chlorophyll-apoprotein complexes. Their activity is considered as a prerequisite for both chlorophyll and apoprotein degradation during senescence.
Hörtensteiner
Stefan
S
Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zurich, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland. shorten@botinst.uzh.ch
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D016922:Cellular Senescence; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000378:metabolism*; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational
D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D010940:Plant Proteins; D002734:Chlorophyll