Figure 5.

Defective autophagy affects processes of leaf senescence. Age-dependent changes in chlorophyll and total nitrogen were compared between Osatg7-1 and control plants. Chlorophyll (A) and total nitrogen (B) were determined in the whole leaf homogenates of the individual 12th to eighth leaves on the main stem of cv Nipponbare, OsATG7+/+, Osatg7-1, and Osatg7-1-ATG7. Data are means ± se (n = 4). Different letters in A and B denote significantly different values (Tukey’s honestly significant difference test, α = 0.05). In C, the data from A and B is used to show the relationship between total nitrogen and chlorophyll in each plant. The gradients shown by the regression lines (senescing pattern) of each plant were statistically analyzed by Student’s t test (α = 0.05), and only Osatg7-1 had a significantly different gradient line from the others. The dashed and black lines with equations are the regression lines for Osatg7-1 and the control plants, respectively.