title: Integrating transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis to understand natural leaf senescence in sunflower.
abstract: Leaf senescence is a complex process, which has dramatic consequences on crop yield. In sunflower, gap between potential and actual yields reveals the economic impact of senescence. Indeed, sunflower plants are incapable of maintaining their green leaf area over sustained periods. This study characterizes the leaf senescence process in sunflower through a systems biology approach integrating transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses: plants being grown under both glasshouse and field conditions. Our results revealed a correspondence between profile changes detected at the molecular, biochemical and physiological level throughout the progression of leaf senescence measured at different plant developmental stages. Early metabolic changes were detected prior to anthesis and before the onset of the first senescence symptoms, with more pronounced changes observed when physiological and molecular variables were assessed under field conditions. During leaf development, photosynthetic activity and cell growth processes decreased, whereas sucrose, fatty acid, nucleotide and amino acid metabolisms increased. Pathways related to nutrient recycling processes were also up-regulated. Members of the NAC, AP2-EREBP, HB, bZIP and MYB transcription factor families showed high expression levels, and their expression level was highly correlated, suggesting their involvement in sunflower senescence. The results of this study thus contribute to the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms involved in the onset and progression of leaf senescence in sunflower leaves as well as to the identification of candidate genes involved in this process.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agronómicas y Veterinarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Hurlingham, Argentina.|Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moschen
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, San Martín, Argentina.
authors.forename: Sofía
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bengoa Luoni
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Julio A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Di Rienzo
authors.affiliation: Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina.
authors.forename: María Del Pilar
authors.initials: Mdel P
authors.lastname: Caro
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tohge
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Mutsumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Institute of Botany, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hollmann
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agronómicas y Veterinarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Hurlingham, Argentina.|Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agronómicas y Veterinarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Hurlingham, Argentina.|Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Máximo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rivarola
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, España.|Functional Genomics Node, National Institute of Bioinformatics, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, España.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: García-García
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, España.|Functional Genomics Node, National Institute of Bioinformatics, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, España.
authors.forename: Joaquin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dopazo
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agronómicas y Veterinarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Hurlingham, Argentina.|Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Horacio Esteban
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Hopp
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hoefgen
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Alisdair R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Fernie
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agronómicas y Veterinarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Hurlingham, Argentina.|Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Paniego
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agronómicas y Veterinarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Hurlingham, Argentina.|Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.|Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, San Martín, Argentina.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agronómicas y Veterinarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Hurlingham, Argentina.|Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.|Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Ruth A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Heinz
mesh_terms: D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D063990:Gene Ontology; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006368:Helianthus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D007477:Ions; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007477:Ions; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: candidate genes; data integration; leaf senescence; metabolomics; sunflower; transcriptomics