title: Phytochrome-interacting transcription factors PIF4 and PIF5 induce leaf senescence in Arabidopsis.
abstract: Plants initiate senescence to shed photosynthetically inefficient leaves. Light deprivation induces leaf senescence, which involves massive transcriptional reprogramming to dismantle cellular components and remobilize nutrients. In darkness, intermittent pulses of red light can inhibit senescence, likely via phytochromes. However, the precise molecular mechanisms transducing the signals from light perception to the inhibition of senescence remain elusive. Here, we show that in Arabidopsis, dark-induced senescence requires phytochrome-interacting transcription factors PIF4 and PIF5 (PIF4/PIF5). ELF3 and phytochrome B inhibit senescence by repressing PIF4/PIF5 at the transcriptional and post-translational levels, respectively. PIF4/PIF5 act in the signalling pathways of two senescence-promoting hormones, ethylene and abscisic acid, by directly activating expression of EIN3, ABI5 and EEL. In turn, PIF4, PIF5, EIN3, ABI5 and EEL directly activate the expression of the major senescence-promoting NAC transcription factor ORESARA1, thus forming multiple, coherent feed-forward loops. Our results reveal how classical light signalling connects to senescence in Arabidopsis.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Plant Science, Plant Genomics and Breeding Institute, Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea [2].
authors.forename: Yasuhito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakuraba
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea [2].
authors.forename: Jinkil
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Science, Plant Genomics and Breeding Institute, Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Junghyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Science, Plant Genomics and Breeding Institute, Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea.
authors.forename: Nam-Chon
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Paek
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Giltsu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000502:physiology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D008027:Light; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D010834:Phytochrome / Q000502:physiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010834:Phytochrome; D014157:Transcription Factors; C409743:ABI5 protein, Arabidopsis; C465452:EEL protein, Arabidopsis; C106987:EIN3 protein, Arabidopsis; C459466:PIF4 protein, Arabidopsis; C497729:PIF5 protein, Arabidopsis