As the leaves change color in autumn

In autumn the leaves lose their color and take on a more or less bright yellow / orange. We know that this is because the chlorophyll is degraded and transformed into another molecule, and in the leaves become obvious other substances, anthocyanins and carotenoids, red or yellow pigments. He also
knew that an enzyme removes chlorophyll a magnesium molecule and thereby prevents the activity, but did not know who did start the process.

AN ATOM IN LESS. A Japanese research team has now discovered the gene that encodes the enzyme responsible for the degradation of chlorophyll, and has published the discovery in the journal The plant cell (summary in English). It's called Stay-Green ("stay green", abbreviated as SGR) and the enzyme it produces is the Mg-dechelatasi.

This molecule removes chlorophyll magnesium atom (Mg), transforms it into another compound (Phaeophytin a) and leaves space in the leaves to other molecules that will ultimately change the color of the world and transform the autumn woods in a symphony of colors.

LESSON OF GENETICS. The SGR gene also has a historical sense, because it is one of the genes studied by Gregor Mendel (the Bohemian monaco who discovered the laws of genetics) in his experiments on green and yellow peas. When a mutation "spoils" the SGR gene, this does not degrade more chlorophyll, which is green in leaving seeds.