Skip Navigation


JXB Advance Access originally published online on March 3, 2003
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
54/385/1127    most recent
erg133v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (74)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Thomas, H.
Right arrow Articles by Stead, A. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Thomas, H.
Right arrow Articles by Stead, A. D.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Thomas, H.
Right arrow Articles by Stead, A. D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 54, No. 385, pp. 1127-1132, April 1, 2003
© 2003 Oxford University Press

Defining senescence and death

Received 25 September 2002; Accepted 14 January 2003

Howard Thomas4,1, Helen J. Ougham1, Carol Wagstaff2 and Anthony D. Stead3

1 Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth SY23 3EB, UK
2 Cardiff School of Biosciences, Main Building, Museum Avenue, PO Box 915, Cardiff CF10 3TL, UK
3 School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK

4 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +44 (0)1970 823242. E-mail: sid.thomas{at}bbsrc.ac.uk

This article evaluates features of leaf and flower senescence that are shared with, or are different from, those of other terminal events in plant development. Alterations of plastid structure and function in senescence are often reversible and it is argued that such changes represent a process of transdifferentiation or metaplasia rather than deterioration. It may be that the irreversible senescence of many flowers and some leaves represents the loss of ancestral plasticity during evolution. Reversibility serves to distinguish senescence fundamentally from programmed cell death (PCD), as does the fact that viability is essential for the initiation and progress of cell senescence. Senescence (particularly its timing and location) requires new gene transcription, but the syndrome is also subject to significant post- transcriptional and post-translational regulation. The reversibility of senescence must relate to the plastic, facultative nature of underlying molecular controls. Senescence appears to be cell-autonomous, though definitive evidence is required to substantiate this. The vacuole plays at least three key roles in the development of senescing cells: it defends the cell against biotic and abiotic damage, thus preserving viability, it accumulates metabolites with other functions, such as animal attractants, and it terminates senescence by becoming autolytic and facilitating true cell death. The mechanisms of PCD in plants bear a certain relation to those of apoptosis, and some processes, such as nucleic acid degradation, are superficially similar to aspects of the senescence syndrome. It is concluded that, in terms of physiological components and their controls, senescence and PCD are at best only distantly related.

Key words: Cell death, flower, leaf, senescence.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Genes Dev.Home page
K. Pajerowska-Mukhtar and X. Dong
A kiss of death--proteasome-mediated membrane fusion and programmed cell death in plant defense against bacterial infection
Genes & Dev., November 1, 2009; 23(21): 2449 - 2454.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant Cell PhysiolHome page
T. Yamada, K. Ichimura, M. Kanekatsu, and W. G. van Doorn
Homologs of Genes Associated with Programmed Cell Death in Animal Cells are Differentially Expressed During Senescence of Ipomoea nil Petals
Plant Cell Physiol., March 1, 2009; 50(3): 610 - 625.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
S. Farage-Barhom, S. Burd, L. Sonego, R. Perl-Treves, and A. Lers
Expression analysis of the BFN1 nuclease gene promoter during senescence, abscission, and programmed cell death-related processes
J. Exp. Bot., September 1, 2008; 59(12): 3247 - 3258.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant CellHome page
C. Andeme Ondzighi, D. A. Christopher, E. J. Cho, S.-C. Chang, and L. A. Staehelin
Arabidopsis Protein Disulfide Isomerase-5 Inhibits Cysteine Proteases during Trafficking to Vacuoles before Programmed Cell Death of the Endothelium in Developing Seeds
PLANT CELL, August 1, 2008; 20(8): 2205 - 2220.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant Physiol.Home page
A. M. Price, D. F. Aros Orellana, F. M. Salleh, R. Stevens, R. Acock, V. Buchanan-Wollaston, A. D. Stead, and H. J. Rogers
A Comparison of Leaf and Petal Senescence in Wallflower Reveals Common and Distinct Patterns of Gene Expression and Physiology
Plant Physiology, August 1, 2008; 147(4): 1898 - 1912.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
A. K. Azad, T. Ishikawa, T. Ishikawa, Y. Sawa, and H. Shibata
Intracellular energy depletion triggers programmed cell death during petal senescence in tulip
J. Exp. Bot., May 31, 2008; (2008) ern066v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
H. Dong, Y. Niu, W. Li, and D. Zhang
Effects of cotton rootstock on endogenous cytokinins and abscisic acid in xylem sap and leaves in relation to leaf senescence
J. Exp. Bot., April 1, 2008; 59(6): 1295 - 1304.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
K. Muntz
Protein dynamics and proteolysis in plant vacuoles
J. Exp. Bot., July 1, 2007; 58(10): 2391 - 2407.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant Physiol.Home page
M. Della Mea, F. De Filippis, V. Genovesi, D. Serafini Fracassini, and S. Del Duca
The Acropetal Wave of Developmental Cell Death of Tobacco Corolla Is Preceded by Activation of Transglutaminase in Different Cell Compartments
Plant Physiology, June 1, 2007; 144(2): 1211 - 1222.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant CellHome page
A. Pruzinska, I. Anders, S. Aubry, N. Schenk, E. Tapernoux-Luthi, T. Muller, B. Krautler, and S. Hortensteiner
In Vivo Participation of Red Chlorophyll Catabolite Reductase in Chlorophyll Breakdown
PLANT CELL, January 1, 2007; 19(1): 369 - 387.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
H Vanacker, L. Sandalio, A Jimenez, J. Palma, F. Corpas, V Meseguer, M Gomez, F Sevilla, M Leterrier, C. Foyer, et al.
Roles for redox regulation in leaf senescence of pea plants grown on different sources of nitrogen nutrition.
J. Exp. Bot., May 1, 2006; 57(8): 1735 - 1745.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ANN BOT (LOND)Home page
H. J. ROGERS
Programmed Cell Death in Floral Organs: How and Why do Flowers Die?
Ann. Bot., March 1, 2006; 97(3): 309 - 315.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant Physiol.Home page
V. Pegadaraju, C. Knepper, J. Reese, and J. Shah
Premature Leaf Senescence Modulated by the Arabidopsis PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT4 Gene Is Associated with Defense against the Phloem-Feeding Green Peach Aphid
Plant Physiology, December 1, 2005; 139(4): 1927 - 1934.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
A. Wingler, E. Brownhill, and N. Pourtau
Mechanisms of the light-dependent induction of cell death in tobacco plants with delayed senescence
J. Exp. Bot., November 1, 2005; 56(421): 2897 - 2905.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant Physiol.Home page
V. Pavet, E. Olmos, G. Kiddle, S. Mowla, S. Kumar, J. Antoniw, M. E. Alvarez, and C. H. Foyer
Ascorbic Acid Deficiency Activates Cell Death and Disease Resistance Responses in Arabidopsis
Plant Physiology, November 1, 2005; 139(3): 1291 - 1303.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
B. J. Langston, S. Bai, and M. L. Jones
Increases in DNA fragmentation and induction of a senescence-specific nuclease are delayed during corolla senescence in ethylene-insensitive (etr1-1) transgenic petunias
J. Exp. Bot., January 1, 2005; 56(409): 15 - 23.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant Physiol.Home page
A. Kladnik, K. Chamusco, M. Dermastia, and P. Chourey
Evidence of Programmed Cell Death in Post-Phloem Transport Cells of the Maternal Pedicel Tissue in Developing Caryopsis of Maize
Plant Physiology, November 1, 2004; 136(3): 3572 - 3581.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
W. G. van Doorn and E. J. Woltering
Senescence and programmed cell death: substance or semantics?
J. Exp. Bot., October 1, 2004; 55(406): 2147 - 2153.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant CellHome page
A. H. L. A. N. Gunawardena, J. S. Greenwood, and N. G. Dengler
Programmed Cell Death Remodels Lace Plant Leaf Shape during Development
PLANT CELL, January 1, 2004; 16(1): 60 - 73.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.