Leaf senescence is an important physiological process involving the degradation of a number of metabolites and their remobilization to new reproductive and storage organs. NAC (NAM, ATAF, and CUC) transcription factors are reported as important regulators of the senescence process. Here, we describe the identification and functional characterization of the NAC transcription factor gene, OsY37 (Oryza sativa Yellow37, ONAC011) obtained from Oryza sativa cv. indica, and japonica. We created transgenic plants expressing the OsY37 gene under the control of a strong and constitutive CaMV35S promoter. The resulting transgenic plants overexpressing OsY37 gene showed early heading and precocious senescence phenotype of flag leaves compared with wild-type plants. By contrast, blocking the function of this gene via RNAi (RNA interference) and CRES-T (Chimeric Repressor Silencing Technology) technology, delayed both heading time and leaf senescence. Furthermore, knockdown of OsY37 expression caused dwarfism and high accumulation of chlorophyll during the vegetative phase. Irrespective of early or delayed senescence, transgenic plants showed reduced grain yields. Our results indicate that OsY37 acts as a positive regulator of heading and senescence during the reproductive phase in rice. In addition, OsY37 may be involved in plant development and grain yield.

Due to its critical importance in crop yield, the photoperiodic regulation of flowering time is considered an important trait in sorghum breeding programs. In this study, quantitative trait loci for flowering time were detected using an F 2 population derived from a cross between Kikuchi Zairai, a late-flowering cultivar originating from Japan and SC112, an early-flowering cultivar originating from Ethiopia. F 2 plants were grown with their parents under a natural day length and a 12 h day length. Two linkage maps were constructed using 213 simple sequence repeats markers. Nine quantitative trait loci controlling flowering time were identified in F 2 plants grown under a natural day length, whereas 7 QTLs were identified under a 12 h day length. Five QTLs controlling flowering time were shared under both of the day length conditions.

A wide range of variation in flowering time was observed within a diversity research set of 107 sorghum accessions ranging from 56 to 133 days. Accessions were classified into early medium and late flowering groups. 45 accessions were grown under three different environments of photoperiod (11, 12 and 15 h). Sorghum accessions gradually responded to the decreasing of day-length. The 12 h of photoperiod could be considered as a threshold above which day-length delays the flowering time in sorghum. Association analysis was performed to identify the QTLs controlling flowering time and photoperiod sensitivity using 107 accessions of sorghum grown under natural condition and 45 accessions grown under controlled conditions. Four QTLs controlling flowering time were detected under natural condition of day-length at threshold 2.5 using K model. A total of seven flowering time loci were detected under controlled conditions of day-length. One QTL controlling photoperiod sensitivity was detected on chromosome 1 and one QTL controlling photoperiod insensitivity was detected on chromosome 4.

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