Overexpression of the maize transcription factor ZmVQ52 accelerates leaf senescence in Arabidopsis

• Published in: PloS one 2019-08, Vol.14 (8), p.e0221949-e0221949
• Main Authors: Yu, Tingting, Lu, Xuefeng, Bai, Yang, Mei, Xiupeng, Guo, Zhifeng, Liu, Chaoxian, Cai, Yilin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abscisic acid; Acids; Aging - genetics; Agronomy; Analysis; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis thaliana; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomarkers; Biotechnology; Chlorophyll; Chlorophyll content; Circadian Rhythm; Circadian rhythms; Cloning; Corn; Crop yield; Ectopic Gene Expression; Environmental aspects; Experiments; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genetic regulation; Growth; Hormones; Jasmonic acid; Kinases; Laboratories; Leaves; Localization; Menopause; Organ Specificity - genetics; Phenols (Class of compounds); Phenotype; Photosynthesis; Physical Sciences; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Plant genetics; Plant hormones; Plant Leaves - genetics; Plant sciences; Plants, Genetically Modified; Proteins; Protoplasts; Quality; Regulatory mechanisms (biology); Research and Analysis Methods; Salicylic acid; Seeds; Senescence; Transcription factors; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Transgenic plants; Zea mays - genetics
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221949

Leaf senescence plays an important role in the improvement of maize kernel yields. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms of leaf senescence in maize are largely unknown. We isolated ZmVQ52 and studied the function of ZmVQ52 which encoded, a VQ family transcription factor. ZmVQ52 is constitutively expressed in maize tissues, and mainly expressed in the leaf; it is located in the nucleus of maize protoplasts. Four WRKY family proteins-ZmWRKY20, ZmWRKY36, ZmWRKY50, and ZmWRKY71-were identified as interacting with ZmVQ52. The overexpression of ZmVQ52 in Arabidopsis accelerated premature leaf senescence. The leaf of the ZmVQ52-overexpression line showed a lower chlorophyll content and higher senescence rate than the WT. A number of leaf senescence regulating genes were up-regulated in the ZmVQ52-overexpression line. Additionally, hormone treatments revealed that the leaf of the ZmVQ52-overexpressed line was more sensitive to salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA), and had an enhanced tolerance to abscisic acid (ABA). Moreover, a transcriptome analysis of the ZmVQ52-overexpression line revealed that ZmVQ52 is mainly involved in the circadian pathway and photosynthetic pathways.