Transcription Factors-Regulated Leaf Senescence: Current Knowledge, Challenges and Approaches

Leaf senescence is a complex biological process regulated at multiple levels, including chromatin remodeling, transcription, post-transcription, translation, and post-translational modifications. Transcription factors (TFs) are crucial regulators of leaf senescence, with NAC and WRKY families being the most studied. This review summarizes the progress made in understanding the regulatory roles of these families in leaf senescence in Arabidopsis and various crops such as wheat, maize, sorghum, and rice. Additionally, we review the regulatory functions of other families, such as ERF, bHLH, bZIP, and MYB. Unraveling the mechanisms of leaf senescence regulated by TFs has the potential to improve crop yield and quality through molecular breeding. While significant progress has been made in leaf senescence research in recent years, our understanding of the molecular regulatory mechanisms underlying this process is still incomplete. This review also discusses the challenges and opportunities in leaf senescence research, with suggestions for possible strategies to address them.