Gene expression in opening and senescing petals of morning glory (Ipomoea nil) flowers

We isolated several senescence-associated genes (SAGs) from the petals of morning glory (Ipomoea nil) flowers, with the aim of furthering our understanding of programmed cell death. Samples were taken from the closed bud stage to advanced visible senescence. Actinomycin D, an inhibitor of transcription, if given prior to 4 h after opening, suppressed the onset of visible senescence, which occurred at about 9 h after flower opening. The isolated genes all showed upregulation. Two cell-wall related genes were upregulated early, one encoding an extensin and one a caffeoyl-CoA-3-O-methyltransferase, involved in lignin production. A pectinacetylesterase was upregulated after flower opening and might be involved in cell-wall degradation. Some identified genes showed high homology with published SAGs possibly involved in remobilisation processes: an alcohol dehydrogenase and three cysteine proteases. One transcript encoded a leucine-rich repeat receptor protein kinase, putatively involved in signal transduction. Another transcript encoded a 14-3-3 protein, also a protein kinase. Two genes have apparently not been associated previously with senescence: the first encoded a putative SEC14, which is required for Golgi vesicle transport, the second was a putative ataxin-2, which has been related to RNA metabolism. Induction of the latter has been shown to result in cell death in yeast, due to defects in actin filament formation. The possible roles of these genes in programmed cell death are discussed.