Degreening, caused by chlorophyll degradation, is the most obvious symptom of senescing leaves. Chlorophyll degradation can be triggered by endogenous and environmental cues, and ethylene is one of the major inducers. ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE3 (EIN3) is a key transcription factor in the ethylene signaling pathway. It was previously reported that EIN3, miR164, and a NAC (NAM, ATAF, and CUC) transcription factor ORE1/NAC2 constitute a regulatory network mediating leaf senescence. However, how this network regulates chlorophyll degradation at molecular level is not yet elucidated. Here we report a feed-forward regulation of chlorophyll degradation that involves EIN3, ORE1, and chlorophyll catabolic genes (CCGs). Gene expression analysis showed that the induction of three major CCGs, NYE1, NYC1 and PAO, by ethylene was largely repressed in ein3 eil1 double mutant. Dual-luciferase assay revealed that EIN3 significantly enhanced the promoter activity of NYE1, NYC1 and PAO in Arabidopsis protoplasts. Furthermore, Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) indicated that EIN3 could directly bind to NYE1, NYC1 and PAO promoters. These results reveal that EIN3 functions as a positive regulator of CCG expression during ethylene-mediated chlorophyll degradation. Interestingly, ORE1, a senescence regulator which is a downstream target of EIN3, could also activate the expression of NYE1, NYC1 and PAO by directly binding to their promoters in EMSA and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. In addition, EIN3 and ORE1 promoted NYE1 and NYC1 transcriptions in an additive manner. These results suggest that ORE1 is also involved in the direct regulation of CCG transcription. Moreover, ORE1 activated the expression of ACS2, a major ethylene biosynthesis gene, and subsequently promoted ethylene production. Collectively, our work reveals that EIN3, ORE1 and CCGs constitute a coherent feed-forward loop involving in the robust regulation of ethylene-mediated chlorophyll degradation during leaf senescence in Arabidopsis.

Chlorophyll (Chl) degradation is an integral process of leaf senescence, and NYE1/SGR1 has been demonstrated as a key regulator of Chl catabolism in diverse plant species. In this study, using yeast one-hybrid screening, we identified three abscisic acid (ABA)-responsive element (ABRE)-binding transcription factors, ABF2 (AREB1), ABF3, and ABF4 (AREB2), as the putative binding proteins of the NYE1 promoter. Through the transactivation analysis, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and chromatin immunoprecipitation, we demonstrated that ABF2, ABF3, and ABF4 directly bound to and activated the NYE1 promoter in vitro and in vivo. ABA is a positive regulator of leaf senescence, and exogenously applied ABA can accelerate Chl degradation. The triple mutant of the ABFs, abf2abf3abf4, as well as two ABA-insensitive mutants, abi1-1 and snrk2.2/2.3/2.6, exhibited stay-green phenotypes after ABA treatment, along with decreased induction of NYE1 and NYE2 expression. In contrast, overexpression of ABF4 accelerated Chl degradation upon ABA treatment. Interestingly, ABF2/3/4 could also activate the expression of two Chl catabolic enzyme genes, PAO and NYC1, by directly binding to their promoters. In addition, abf2abf3abf4 exhibited a functional stay-green phenotype, and senescence-associated genes (SAGs), such as SAG29 (SWEET15), might be directly regulated by the ABFs. Taken together, our results suggest that ABF2, ABF3, and ABF4 likely act as key regulators in mediating ABA-triggered Chl degradation and leaf senescence in general in Arabidopsis.

Summary Degreening caused by rapid chlorophyll (Chl) degradation is a characteristic event during green organ senescence or maturation. Pheophorbide a oxygenase gene (PAO) encodes a key enzyme of Chl degradation, yet its transcriptional regulation remains largely unknown. Using yeast one‐hybrid screening, coupled with in vitro and in vivo assays, we revealed that Arabidopsis MYC2/3/4 basic helix‐loop‐helix proteins directly bind to PAO promoter. Overexpression of the MYCs significantly enhanced the transcriptional activity of PAO promoter in Arabidopsis protoplasts, and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment greatly induced PAO expression in wild‐type Arabidopsis plants, but the induction was abolished in myc2 myc3 myc4. In addition, MYC2/3/4 proteins could promote the expression of another Chl catabolic enzyme gene, NYC1, as well as a key regulatory gene of Chl degradation, NYE1/SGR1, by directly binding to their promoters. More importantly, the myc2 myc3 myc4 triple mutant showed a severe stay‐green phenotype, whereas the lines overexpressing the MYCs showed accelerated leaf yellowing upon MeJA treatment. These results suggest that MYC2/3/4 proteins may mediate jasmonic acid (JA)‐induced Chl degradation by directly activating these Chl catabolic genes (CCGs). Three NAC family proteins, ANAC019/055/072, downstream from MYC2/3/4 proteins, could also directly promote the expression of a similar set of CCGs (NYE1/SGR1, NYE2/SGR2 and NYC1) during Chl degradation. In particular, anac019 anac055 anac072 triple mutant displayed a severe stay‐green phenotype after MeJA treatment. Finally, we revealed that MYC2 and ANAC019 may interact with each other and synergistically enhance NYE1 expression. Together, our study reveals a hierarchical and coordinated regulatory network of JA‐induced Chl degradation.

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Extreme heat during certain days of the summer renders pigs susceptible to severe heat stress, which negatively affects their growth performance. We hypothesized that such heat stress impaired the small intestinal mucosa, a site responsible for nutrient absorption. To simulate heat stress, Chinese experimental mini-pigs were treated with 5 h of continual 40 degrees C temperature each day for 10 d in succession. Pigs were killed at 1, 3, 6 and 10 d after treatment, and small intestinal epithelia were sampled for histochemical examination and biochemical analyses. The duodenum and jejunum were seriously damaged within 3 d of initiation of treatment. Subsequent study of the process of jejunum recovery showed that the initiation of recovery started within 6 d following heat stress. Such damage was associated with the downregulation of epithelial growth factor signaling. In conclusion, heat stress induced short-term damage to the epithelium of porcine intestine. Because the intestinal epithelium is crucial for nutrient uptake, such damage should partially account for the impairment of growth performance of pigs under heat stress.