Leaf senescence is controlled developmentally and environmentally and is affected by numerous genes, including transcription factors. An Arabidopsis NAC domain transcription factor, ATAF2, is known to regulate biotic stress responses. Recently, we have demonstrated that ATAF2 upregulates ORE1, a key regulator of leaf senescence. Here, to investigate the function of ATAF2 in leaf senescence further, we generated and analyzed overexpressing transgenic and T‐DNA inserted mutant lines. Transient expression analysis indicated that ATAF2 upregulates several NAC domain transcription factors that regulate senescence. Indeed, ATAF2 overexpression induced the expression of senescence‐related genes, thereby accelerating leaf senescence, whereas the expression of such genes in ataf2 mutants was lower than that of wild‐type plants. Furthermore, the ataf2 mutants exhibited significant delays in dark‐induced leaf senescence. It was also found that ATAF2 induces the expression of transcription factors, which both promotes and represses leaf senescence. The present study demonstrates that ATAF2 promotes leaf senescence in response to developmental and environmental signals.
Readily available moisture in the root zone is very important for optimum plant growth. The available techniques to determine soil moisture content have practical limitations owing to their high cost, dependence on labor, and time consumption. We have developed a prototype for automated soil moisture monitoring using a low-cost capacitive soil moisture sensor (SKU:SEN0193) for data acquisition, connected to the internet. A soil-specific calibration was performed to integrate the sensor with the automated soil moisture monitoring system. The accuracy of the soil moisture measurements was compared with those of a gravimetric method and a well-established soil moisture sensor (SM-200, Delta-T Devices Ltd, Cambridge, UK). The root-mean-square error (RMSE) of the soil water contents obtained with the SKU:SEN0193 sensor function, the SM-200 manufacturer’s function, and the SM-200 soil-specific calibration function were 0.09, 0.07, and 0.06 cm3 cm−3, for samples in the dry to saturated range, and 0.05, 0.08, and 0.03 cm3 cm−3, for samples in the field capacity range. The repeatability of the measurements recorded with the developed calibration function support the potential use of the SKU:SEN0193 sensor to minimize the risk of soil moisture stress or excess water application.
The ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA ACTIVATION FACTOR 2 (ATAF2) protein has been demonstrated to be involved in various biological processes including biotic stress responses, photo morphogenesis, and auxin catabolism. However, the transcriptional function of ATAF2 currently remains elusive. Therefore, to further understand the molecular function of ATAF2, we evaluated the transcriptional activities of ATAF2 using a transient assay system in this study. We used an effector consisting of a GAL4-DNA binding domain (GAL4-BD) fused to ATAF2, and observed upregulated reporter gene expression, suggesting that ATAF2 potentially has transcriptional activation activity. ATAF2 has been shown to activate reporter gene expression under the control of the ORE1 promoter. By contrast, ATAF2 significantly repressed reporter gene expression driven by the NIT2 promoter. These data suggest that ATAF2 is a bifunctional transcription factor that can alter target gene expression depending on the promoter sequences.
The Arabidopsis thaliana NAM, ATAF1/2 and CUC2 (NAC) domain transcription factor VND-INTERACTING1 (VNI1) was previously isolated as an interacting factor of VASCULAR-RELATED NAC-DOMAIN PROTEIN7 (VND7), a key regulator of xylem vessel differentiation, in a yeast two-hybrid screening. Here, we characterized VNI1 and its closest homolog, ANAC103, at the molecular level. Both VNI1 and ANAC103 interacted in vitro not only with VND proteins but also with other NAC domain proteins, such as NAC1 and CUC2. A transient expression assay showed that both VNI1 and ANAC103 are transcriptional activators. ANAC103 promoter activity was detected in vascular tissues, as well as in the trichomes, guard cells, and margins of young leaves. These data suggest that VNI1 and ANAC103 promote the differentiation of various types of cells by modulating the transcriptional activities of a wide range of NAC domain transcription factors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.