Background: Leaf senescence is one of the most common manifestations in plant senescence and has an important effect on plant photosynthesis. Delaying or shorten the senescence of tobacco leaves is one of the important approaches to improve tobacco breeding. However, the molecular regulatory mechanism of tobacco leaf senescence in response to photosynthesis is still poorly understood. To gain insights into the senescence of tobacco leaves, we integrated analyses including photosynthesis, organelle ultrastructure, and proteome of tobacco leaves during senescence.
Results:The photosynthetic rate, intercellular CO 2 concentration, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate showed a downward trend, and the stability of organelle decreased with the senescence of tobacco leaves. Isobaric Tag for Relative Absolute Quantitation (iTRAQ) and Parallel Reaction Monitoring (PRM) were used to analyze the proteins expressed in different periods that were estimate based on photosynthetic physiology and ultramicroscopic observations. A total of 321, 319, 223 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified from over maturity (OM) vs immature (IM), OM vs well maturity (WM) and WM vs IM, respectively, including 122/199, 124/195 and 125/98 up/down proteins, respectively. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed that the DEPs were significantly enriched in metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, microbial metabolism in diverse environments and starch and sucrose metabolism. In addition, the down-regulated proteins were also involved in metabolic pathways, such as carbon sequestration of photosynthetic organisms and photosynthesis. PRM analysis was performed and indicated that iTRAQ is highly reliable in the identification of major proteins involved in tobacco senescence.
Conclusions:This study provided important technical references for screening of host photosynthetic proteins during tobacco leaves senescence and established a basis for scientifically understanding of the senescence mechanism of tobacco leaves.