The role of Whirly proteins in transcriptional control of leaf senescence and cell death processes in Arabidopsis thaliana

衰老是叶片发育的最后阶段，最终导致组织死亡。这一发育阶段的特点是营养物质的重新调动，在作物植物中，如果由于胁迫而过早诱导，则会限制产量。其复杂调控主要在拟南芥中进行研究。研究表明，WRKY和NAC家族的转录因子在这一过程中起着重要的调控作用。我们的研究表明，在病原体感染期间，Whirly蛋白构成了另一个控制衰老和细胞死亡过程的转录因子家族，其中Whirly1作用于WRKY转录因子的上游。此外，我们还发现Whirly1是一种特殊的转录因子，在细胞核和质体中具有双重位置。本项目的主要目标是阐明Whirly1上游调控WRKY转录因子的分子机制。除了表观遗传因素外，还将研究Whirly1互作伙伴的意义。

Senescence is the last phase of leaf development finally leading to death of the tissue. This phase of development is characterized by remobilization of nutrients and in crop plants limits yield when it is induced prematurely by stress. Its complex regulation has been mainly studied in Arabidopsis thaliana. It has been shown that transcription factors of the WRKY and NAC families have prominent roles in controlling the process. Our research has demonstrated that Whirly proteins constitute another family of transcription factors controlling senescence as well as cell death processes during pathogen infection whereby Whirly1 acts upstream of WRKY transcription factors. Moreover we showed that Whirly1 is an exceptional transcription factor with a dual location in the nucleus and plastids. The major goal of the project is to elucidate the molecular mechanism of the upstream regulation of WRKY transcription factors by Whirly1. Besides epigenetic factors, also the significance of Whirly1 interaction partners will be investigated.