Natural allelic variation of GVS1 confers diversity in the regulation of leaf senescence in Arabidopsis. Issue 4 (23rd October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lyu, Jae Il; Kim, Jin Hee; Chu, Hyosub; Taylor, Mark A.; Jung, Sukjoon; Baek, Seung Hee; Woo, Hye Ryun; Lim, Pyung Ok; Kim, Jeongsik
• Is Part Of: New phytologist. Volume 221:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 2320
• Page End: 2334
• Publication Date: 2018-10-23
• Subjects: Arabidopsis -- Genetic Variants in leaf Senescence (GVS1) -- genome‐wide association (GWA) -- leaf senescence -- natural variation -- oxidative stress; Botany -- Periodicals; 580
• DOI: 10.1111/nph.15501
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0028-646X

Abstract

Summary: Leaf senescence affects plant fitness. Plants that evolve in different environments are expected to acquire distinct regulations of leaf senescence. However, the adaptive and evolutionary roles of leaf senescence are largely unknown. We investigated leaf senescence in 259 natural accessions of Arabidopsis by quantitatively assaying dark‐induced senescence responses using a high‐throughput chlorophyll fluorescence imaging system. A meta‐analysis of our data with phenotypic and climatic information demonstrated biological and environmental links with leaf senescence. We further performed genome‐wide association mapping to identify the genetic loci underlying the diversity of leaf senescence responses. We uncovered a new locus, Genetic Variants in leaf Senescence ( GVS1 ), with high similarity to reductase, where a single nonsynonymous nucleotide substitution at GVS1 mediates the diversity of the senescence trait. Loss‐of‐function mutations of GVS1 in Columbia‐0 delayed leaf senescence and increased sensitivity to oxidative stress, suggesting that this GVS1 variant promotes optimal responses to developmental and environmental signals. Intriguingly, gvs1 loss‐of‐function mutants display allele‐ and accession‐dependent phenotypes, revealing the functional diversity of GVS1 alleles not only in leaf senescence, but also oxidative stress. Our discovery of GVS1 as the genetic basis of natural variation in senescence programs reinforces its adaptive potential in modulating life histories across diverse environments.