Abstract:

Senescence is a developmental process in the life cycle of a plant or a plant organ which has an intrinsic link with longevity. In human and animal sciences, the question of what controls the length of life is a fundamental biological query which has been puzzling scientists for centuries. Plant senescence is an even more complicated topic, since plants have many life-forms which differ greatly in their maximal life-spans. On the applied side, plant senescence has a great impact on landscape, agriculture, and our daily lives, being tightly linked to crop yield and quality as well as biomass production and bio-energy development, which are of increasing concern in the current age of climate change and parallel population growth.