Transcriptome, transcription factors and transcriptional regulation of leaf senescence

Senescence is the last stage of development of a leaf, and is critical for plants’ evolutionary fitness as nutrient remobilization to other organs of a plant is achieved through this process. The leaf senescence process is believed to be under the control of a highly regulated genetic program which is associated with drastic changes of gene expression. Major breakthroughs in the molecular understanding of leaf senescence have been achieved through analyses of the transcriptome and transcriptional regulations during this process. Changes in gene expression reflect the profound physiological rearrangements and studies of transcription factors have provided intriguing clues for the regulatory network involved. This review summarizes recent progress in transcriptomic analyses and studies on transcriptional regulation of leaf senescence.