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Reactive Oxygen Species Production and Detoxification During Leaf Senescence

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Reactive Oxygen Species and Antioxidant Systems in Plants: Role and Regulation under Abiotic Stress

Abstract

The natural leaf senescence is the last stage of leaf development and is a highly genetically regulated process. Induced leaf senescence, instead, usually occurs in detached leaves or in plants placed in dark conditions under postharvest storage. In both cases, an oxidative burst is a typical feature of this phenomenon and includes a significant increment in reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical, and singlet oxygen. Thus, ROS play a key role in leaf senescence process. Under normal (i.e., non-stressed) conditions, the levels of ROS are controlled and balanced by the antioxidant systems present in leaves. The leaf cells act in the defense response against the accumulation of ROS by enhancing the activity of some key enzymes such as catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). In addition, the ascorbate–glutathione cycle, also known as Asada–Halliwell cycle, is the most important enzymatic antioxidant system acting in the leaf cells during senescence. The leaves are considered the main target of ROS production, and in particular, the photosynthetic apparatus and the related molecules act to support the light perception and photosynthesis activity (chlorophylls and carotenoids).

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Abbreviations

1O2:

Singlet oxygen

AAO:

Aldehyde oxygenase

ABA:

Abscisic acid

ACO:

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase

AOI:

IAA oxidase

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

AsA:

Ascorbate

ATG:

Affecting autophagy

CAT:

Catalase

DHA:

Dehydroascorbate

DHAR:

Dehydroascorbate reductase

GR:

Glutathione reductase

GSH:

Glutathione

GSH:

Reduced glutathione

GSSG:

Oxidized form of glutathione

H2O2:

Hydrogen peroxide

IAA:

Indole acetic acid

JA:

Jasmonic acid

MDHA:

Monodehydroascorbate reductase

MeJA:

Methyl jasmonate

NahG:

Naphthalene oxygenase

NCED:

9-cis-Epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase

NIT1-3:

Nitrilases

O2ˉ:

Superoxide anion

OH˙:

Hydroxyl radical

PAO:

Pheophorbide a oxygenase

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SA:

Salicylic acid

SAGs:

Senescence-associated genes

SARK:

Senescence-associated receptor-like kinase

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

TSA1:

Tryptophan synthase

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127, Pisa, Italy

    Alice Trivellini & Alessandra Francini

  2. Department Agricultural and Environmental Science – Production, Landscape, Agroenergy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 2, 20133, Milano, Italy

    Giacomo Cocetta & Antonio Ferrante

Authors
  1. Alice Trivellini
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  2. Giacomo Cocetta
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  3. Alessandra Francini
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  4. Antonio Ferrante
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Correspondence to Antonio Ferrante .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Crop and Environmental Sciences Division, International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Philippines

    M. Iqbal R. Khan

  2. Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

    Nafees A. Khan

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Trivellini, A., Cocetta, G., Francini, A., Ferrante, A. (2017). Reactive Oxygen Species Production and Detoxification During Leaf Senescence. In: Khan, M., Khan, N. (eds) Reactive Oxygen Species and Antioxidant Systems in Plants: Role and Regulation under Abiotic Stress. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5254-5_5

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