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Review
. 2022 Jan 12;11(2):251.
doi: 10.3390/cells11020251.

Epigenetic Mechanisms of Senescence in Plants

Matin Miryeganeh  1
Affiliations
Review

Epigenetic Mechanisms of Senescence in Plants

Matin Miryeganeh. Cells. .

Abstract

Senescence is a major developmental transition in plants that requires a massive reprogramming of gene expression and includes various layers of regulations. Senescence is either an age-dependent or a stress-induced process, and is under the control of complex regulatory networks that interact with each other. It has been shown that besides genetic reprogramming, which is an important aspect of plant senescence, transcription factors and higher-level mechanisms, such as epigenetic and small RNA-mediated regulators, are also key factors of senescence-related genes. Epigenetic mechanisms are an important layer of this multilevel regulatory system that change the activity of transcription factors (TFs) and play an important role in modulating the expression of senescence-related gene. They include chromatin remodeling, DNA methylation, histone modification, and the RNA-mediated control of transcription factors and genes. This review provides an overview of the known epigenetic regulation of plant senescence, which has mostly been studied in the form of leaf senescence, and it also covers what has been reported about whole-plant senescence.

Keywords: DNA methylation; aging; chromatin remodeling; epigenetic; histone modification; miRNA; plant senescence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Multilayer regulatory network of plant senescence. The senescence program is influenced by external (stress-induced) and internal (developmental) signals. It is known that downstream of signaling pathways, such as in phytohormone activity, and upstream of transcription factors, such as WRKYs and NACs that regulate the expression of senescence genes, there are higher-level epigenetic mechanisms that control the process of senescence. The epigenetic mechanisms regulate the expression of transcription factors and other senescence-related genes via DNA methylation, histone methylation/acetylation, chromatin remodeling, and the interactions of small RNAs, such as miRNA and siRNA, with senescence-related genes. The name for the main factors in every step is given.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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