Counteractive Effects of Sugar and Strigolactone on Leaf Senescence of Rice in Darkness

• Published in: Agronomy (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 6; p. 1044
• Main Authors: Takahashi, Ikuo, Jiang, Kai, Asami, Tadao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 23-05-2021
• Subjects: Antioxidants; Biosynthesis; Chlorophyll; Crosstalk; Darkness; Electrolytes; Enzymes; Gene expression; Hormones; Hydrogen peroxide; leaf senescence; Leaves; Nutrient deficiency; Nutrient status; plant hormone; Plants; reactive oxygen species; rice; Seeds; Senescence; Software; strigolactone; Sugar; Japan
• ISSN: 2073-4395; 2073-4395
• DOI: 10.3390/agronomy11061044

Plant hormones strigolactones (SLs) were recently reported to induce leaf senescence. It was reported that sugar suppresses SL-induced leaf senescence in the dark; however, the mechanism of the crosstalk between SLs and the sugar signal in leaf senescence remains elusive. To understand this mechanism, we studied the effects of glucose (Glc) on various senescence-related parameters in leaves of the rice. We found that sugars alleviated SL-induced leaf senescence under dark conditions, and the co-treatment with Glc suppressed SL-induced hydrogen peroxide generation and membrane deterioration. It also suppressed the expression levels of antioxidant enzyme genes upregulated by SL, suggesting that Glc alleviates SL-induced senescence by inhibiting the oxidative processes. SLs can adapt to nutrient deficiency, a major factor of leaf senescence; therefore, we suggest the possibility that Glc and SL monitor the nutrient status in plants to regulate leaf senescence.