Leaf senescence, the final stage of leaf development, is a complex and highly regulated process that involves a series of coordinated actions at the cellular, tissue, organ, and organism levels under the control of a highly regulated genetic program. In the last decade, the use of mutants with different levels of leaf senescence phenotypes has led to the cloning and functional characterizations of a few genes, which has greatly improved the understanding of genetic mechanisms underlying leaf senescence. In this review, we summarize the recent achievements in the genetic mechanisms in rice leaf senescence.
Keywords: leaf senescence; mutants; rice (Oryza sativa L.); senescence-associated genes.