Identification of transcription factors regulating senescence in wheat through gene regulatory network modelling (Plant Physiol)

Like other seed crops, wheat yields depend in part on the efficiency with which nutrients stored in leaves are mobilized into the developing seeds. This depends on the several processes from macromolecule breakdown to transport, as well as the timing of leaf senescence. Borrill et al. used RNA analysis and gene regulatory network (GRN) modeling to uncover transcription factors involved in the regulation of leaf senescence. They found nearly 10,000 genes differentially regulated during flag leaf senescence, which fall into early and late temporal waves. Early, down-regulated genes include those involved in photosynthesis and protein translation, whereas late, up-regulated genes include those involved in nutrient mobilization and transport. Among other things, this study shows how far wheat genomic tools have progressed. (Summary by Mary Williams) Plant Physiol. 10.1104/pp.19.00380