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This detailed volume covers a wide variety of techniques either developed specially for plant senescence studies or optimized for studying senescing plants. After an introduction to the topic, the book continues with sections on phenotypic analysis and molecular markers of plant organ senescence, hormonal control of plant senescence, stress-induced senescence, molecular and cellular processes in plant senescence, as well as systems biology approaches. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.
Authoritative and practical, Plant Senescence: Methods and Protocols aims to provide a useful hand book of standard protocols for plant molecular biologists working on senescence.

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Part I: Introduction of Plant Senescence

1. Concepts and Types of Senescence in Plants

Susheng Gan

2. Initiation, Progression, and Genetic Manipulation of Leaf Senescence

Akhtar Ali, Xiaoming Gao, and Yongfeng Guo

Part II: Phenotypic Analysis and Molecular Markers of Plant Organ Senescence

3. Phenotypic Analysis and Molecular Markers of Leaf Senescence
Liming Zhao, Yan Xia, Xiao-Yuan Wu, Jos H.M. Schippers, and Hai-Chun Jing

4. Investigation of Petal Senescence by TRV-Mediated Virus-Induced Gene Silencing in Rose

Chenxia Cheng, Junping Gao, and Nan Ma

5. Phenotypic Analysis and Molecular Markers of Plant Nodule Senescence

Xiuying Xia

6. Quantitative Analysis of Floral Organ Abscission in Arabidopsis via a Petal Breakstrength Assay

Chun-Lin Shi and Melinka A. Butenko

7. Characterization of Climacteric and Non-Climacteric Fruit Ripening
Xiaohong Kou and Mengshi Wu

Part III: Hormonal Control of Plant Senescence

8. Ethylene Treatment in Studying Leaf Senescence in Arabidopsis

Zhonghai Li and Hongwei Guo

9. The Assay of Abscisic Acid-Induced Stomata Movement in Leaf Senescence

Yanyan Zhang and Kewei Zhang

10. The EPR Method for Detecting Nitric Oxide in Plant Senescence

Aizhen Sun

11. Hormone Treatments in Studying Leaf Senescence

Zenglin Zhang and Yongfeng Guo

Part IV: Stress-Induced Senescence in Plants

12. Methods to Study Darkness-Induced Leaf Senescence

Yi Song and Lin Li

13. Salt Treatments and Induction of Senescence

Yasuhito Sakuraba, Dami Kim, and Nam-Chon Paek

14. Methods for Elucidation of Plant Senescence in Response to C/N-Nutrient Balance

Shoki Aoyama, Junji Yamaguchi, and Takeo Sato

15. Study of Cotton Leaf Senescence Induced by Alternaria alternata Infection

Wei Liu, Wenwei Zhang, Na Zheng, Weibo Zhai, and Fangjun Qi

16. Study of Hydrogen Peroxide as a Senescence-Inducing Signal

Stefan Bieker, Maren Potschin, and Ulrike Zentgraf

17. Identification of Postharvest Senescence Regulators through Map-Based Cloning Using Detached Arabidopsis Inflorescences as a Model Tissue

Donald A. Hunter, Rubina Jibran, Paul Dijkwel, David Chagné, Kerry Sullivan, Aakansha Kanojia, and Ross Crowhurst

Part V: Molecular and Cellular Processes in Plant Senescence

18. Chlorophyll and Chlorophyll Catabolite Analysis by HPLC

Aditi Das, Luzia Guyer, and Stefan Hörtensteiner

19. Identification and Functional Analysis of Senescence-Associated Genes in Wheat

Geng Wang, Ke Li, and Chunjiang Zhou

20. Isolation, Purification, and Detection of MicroRNAs in Plant Senescence

Yujun Ren and Ying Miao

21. In Situ Detection of Programmed Cell Death in Senescing Nicotiana tabacum Leaves Using TUNEL Assay

Branka Uzelac, Dusica Janosevic, and Snezana Budimir

22. Activities of Vacuolar Cysteine Proteases in Plant Senescence

Dana E Martínez, Lorenza Costa, and Juan José Guiamét

23. Study of Autophagy in Plant Senescence

Xuefei Cui, Jing Zheng, Jinxin Zheng, and Qingqiu Gong

24. Isolation of Chloroplasts for In Organelle Protein Degradation Assay

Scott W. Vande Wetering and Judy A. Brusslan

25. Plant Cell Walls: Isolation and Monosaccharide Composition Analysis

Yingzhen Kong, Malcolm O´Neill, and Gongke Zhou

26. Visualizing Morphological Changes of Abscission Zone Cells in Arabidopsis by Scanning Electron Microscope

Chun-Lin Shi and Melinka A. Butenko

Part VI: Systems Biology in Plant Senescence

27. RNA-Seq Analysis of the Transcriptome of Leaf Senescence in Tobacco

Wei Li and Yongfeng Guo

28. Comprehensive Metabolomics Studies of Plant Developmental Senescence
Mutsumi Watanabe, Takayuki Tohge, Salma Balazadeh, Alexander Erban, Patrick Giavalisco, Joachim Kopka, Bernd Mueller-Roeber, Alisdair R. Fernie, and Rainer Hoefgen

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