Hexokinase gene OsHXK1 positively regulates leaf senescence in rice

BACKGROUND: Leaf senescence is a highly complex and meticulous regulatory process, and the disruption of any factor involved in leaf senescence might lead to premature or delayed leaf senescence and thus result in reduced or increased crop yields. Despite sincere efforts by scientists, there remain many unsolved problems related to the regulatory factors and molecular mechanisms of leaf senescence. RESULTS: This study successfully revealed that OsHXK1 was highly expressed in senescent leaves of rice. The upregulation of OsHXK1 led to premature senescence of rice leaves, a decreased level of chlorophyll, and damage to the chloroplast structure. The overexpression of OsHXK1 resulted in increases in glucose and ROS levels and produced programmed cell death (PCD) signals earlier at the booting stage. Further analysis showed that expression level of the respiratory burst oxidase homolog (RBOH) genes and OsGLO1 were increased in OsHXK1-overexpressing plants at the booting stage. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the outcomes of this study suggested that OsHXK1 could act as a positive regulator of rice leaf senescence by mediating glucose accumulation and inducing an increase in ROS. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-021-03343-5.