Ring/U-Box Protein AtUSR1 Functions in Promoting Leaf Senescence Through JA Signaling Pathway in Arabidopsis

Leaf senescence is regulated by a large number of internal and environmental factors. Here, we report that AtUSR1 (U-box Senescence Related 1) which encodes a plant Ring/U-box protein, is involved in age-dependent and dark-induced leaf senescence in Arabidopsis. Expression of gene in leaves was up-regulated in darkness and during aging. Plants of , an gene knock-down mutant, showed a significant delay in age-dependent and dark-induced leaf senescence and the delayed senescence phenotype was rescued when the gene was transferred back to the mutant plants. Meanwhile, overexpression of caused accelerated leaf senescence. Furthermore, the role of AtUSR1 in regulating leaf senescence is related to MYC2-mediuated jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway. MeJA treatments promoted the accumulation of transcripts and this expression activation was dependent on the function of MYC2, a key transcription factor in JA signaling. Dual-luciferase assay results indicated that MYC2 promoted the expression of . Overexpression of in mutant plants showed precocious senescence, while mutation alone caused a delay in leaf senescence, suggesting that AtUSR1 functions downstream to MYC2 in the JA signaling pathway in promoting leaf senescence.