Redox-driven WRKY25 unlocks WRKY53 to orchestrate leaf senescence

Leaf senescence, which overlaps with the reproductive growth phase in annual plants, constitutes the last stage in the development of a leaf, and several endogenous and exogenous factors control this, ultimately influencing the plant’s fitness, crop yield quantity and quality. The WRKY family of transcription factors (TFs), particularly WRKY53, has already been shown to play crucial roles in the senescence process. However, in this paper, Galan et al. uncovered the regulatory roles of two other WRKY TF in the senescence process, namely WRKY18 and WRKY25. The authors used various molecular biology techniques to show that WRKY18 acts as a repressor of WRKY53, while WRKY25 acts as an activator of WRKY53. The authors further uncovered the regulatory roles of the N-terminal (activating WRKY53 expression) and C-terminal (preventing WRKY53 overexpression) domains of the WRKY25 TF. They showed that WRKY25 functions as a redox switch, modulating the WRKY18/WRKY25/WRKY53 network to drive senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana. The researchers also highlighted that the heterodimerization of both WRKY18 and WRKY25 plays a role in the activation of WRKY53 expression. (Summary by Nathaniel Oragbon @NathanIgwe) Scientific Reports  10.1038/s41598-025-13023-1