OsNAC103, a NAC Transcription Factor, Positively Regulates Leaf Senescence and Plant Architecture in Rice

Leaf senescence, the last stage of leaf development, is essential for crop yield by promoting nutrition relocation from senescence leaves to new leaves and seeds. NAC (NAM/ATAF1/ATAF2/CUC2) proteins, one of the plant-specific transcription factors, widely distribute in plants and play important roles in plant growth and development. Here, we identified a new NAC member OsNAC103 and found that it plays critical roles in leaf senescence and plant architecture in rice. OsNAC103 mRNA levels were dramatically induced by leaf senescence as well as different phytohormones such as ABA, MeJA and ACC and abiotic stresses including dark, drought and high salinity. OsNAC103 acts as a transcription factor with nuclear localization signals at the N terminal and a transcriptional activation signal at the C terminal. Overexpression of OsNAC103 promoted leaf senescence while osnac103 mutants delayed leaf senescence under natural condition and dark-induced condition, meanwhile, senescence-associated genes (SAGs) were up-regulated in OsNAC103 overexpression (OsNAC103-OE) lines, indicating that OsNAC103 positively regulates leaf senescence in rice. Moreover, OsNAC103-OE lines exhibited loose plant architecture with larger tiller angles while tiller angles of osnac103 mutants decreased during the vegetative and reproductive growth stages due to the response of shoot gravitropism, suggesting that OsNAC103 can regulate the plant architecture in rice. Taken together, our results reveal that OsNAC103 plays crucial roles in the regulation of leaf senescence and plant architecture in rice.