Primary metabolic processes as drivers of leaf ageing

Ageing in plants is a highly coordinated and complex process that starts with the birth of the plant or plant organ and ends with its death. A vivid manifestation of the final stage of leaf ageing is exemplified by the autumn colours of deciduous trees. Over the past decades, technological advances have allowed plant ageing to be studied on a systems biology level, by means of multi-omics approaches. Here, we review some of these studies and argue that these provide strong support for basic metabolic processes as drivers for ageing. In particular, core cellular processes that control the metabolism of chlorophyll, amino acids, sugars, DNA and reactive oxygen species correlate with leaf ageing. However, while multi-omics studies excel at identifying correlative processes and pathways, molecular genetic approaches can provide proof that such processes and pathways control ageing, by means of knock-out and ectopic expression of predicted regulatory genes. Therefore, we also review historic and current molecular evidence to directly test the hypotheses unveiled by the systems biology approaches. We found that the molecular genetic approaches, by and large, confirm the multi-omics-derived hypotheses with notable exceptions, where there is scant evidence that chlorophyll and DNA metabolism are important drivers of leaf ageing. We present a model that summarises the core cellular processes that drive leaf ageing and propose that developmental processes are tightly linked to primary metabolism to inevitably lead to ageing and death.

Measurement of leaf day respiration using a new isotopic disequilibrium method compared with the Laisk method

SummaryQuantification of leaf respiration is of great importance for the understanding of plant physiology and ecosystem biogeochemical processes. Leaf respiration continues in light (RL) but supposedly at a lower rate compared to the dark (RD). Yet, there is no method for direct measurement of RL and most available methods require unphysiological measurement conditions.A method based on isotopic disequilibrium quantified RL (RL 13C) and mesophyll conductance of young and old fully-expanded leaves of six species compared RL 13C to RL values determined by the Laisk method (RL Laisk).RL 13C and RL Laisk were consistently lower than RD. Leaf ageing negatively affected photosynthetic performance, but had no significant effect on RL or RL/RD as determined by both methods. RL Laisk and RL 13C were measured successively on the same leaves and correlated positively (r2=0.38), but average RL Laisk was 28% lower than RL13C. Using A/Cc curves instead of A/Ci curves, a higher photocompensation point Γ* (by 5 μmol mol-1) was found but the correction had no influence on RL Laisk estimates.The results suggest that the Laisk method underestimated RL. The isotopic disequilibrium method is useful for assessing responses of RL to irradiance and CO2, improving our mechanistic understanding of RL.

Seasonal variation in physiological characteristics of two silver birch clones in the field

Seasonal changes in growth, photosynthesis, and related biochemical properties and leaf structure were determined for two clones (4 and 80, 20 trees per clone) of 7-year-old Betula pendula Roth trees during the growing season of 1998. Differences between the two genotypes were determined to characterize the physiological traits that might affect growth and productivity and that might differ between the genotypes. Net photosynthesis of the short shoot leaves varied between 11 and 15 µmol·m–2·s–1 and decreased only slightly towards the end of the summer. However, our results showed more marked decreases in the amount of Rubisco (ribulose biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) and leaf N and increases in the total leaf, palisade and spongy layer thickness, chloroplast and starch grain size, and diameter of plastoglobuli in both clones in response to leaf ageing and changes in growth environment. Height and biomass were greater in clone 80 than in clone 4. This was related to slightly more efficient net photosynthesis and higher stomatal conductance and density as well as higher activity of Rubisco and content of foliar nutrients (other than N). We conclude that clone 80 is characterized by faster gas exchange, higher Rubisco activity, stomatal conductance, and density, and earlier leaf ageing, which may be related to the higher ozone sensitivity determined previously in pot experiments with younger saplings.