Wenyu Yang , Xinguang Cai , Chunxiang Ma

Tropical Medicinal Plant Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Plant Gene and Trait, 2025, Vol. 16, No. 6   
Received: 10 Oct., 2025    Accepted: 14 Nov., 2025    Published: 27 Nov., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study collates the changes in primary metabolism of Arabidopsis thaliana during leaf senescence, from being dominated by “accumulation” to being dominated by “decomposition and reuse”, and introduces the degradation of starch, the decomposition of proteins and membrane lipids, as well as the significant roles of amino acid and polyamine metabolism in nutrient mobilization and energy supply. The functions of the phenylpropane pathway, flavonoids and other secondary metabolites in antioxidation and stress response were summarized. How transcription factors such as NAC, WRKY and bZIP, as well as hormone signals such as ethylene, ABA, JA and SA, together form a multi-level regulatory network was discussed. Moreover, through multi-omics and systems biology methods, the metabolic network and gene regulatory network related to aging were integrated and reconstructed. This study aims to construct a more systematic framework for regulating leaf senescence metabolism, providing a reference for a deeper understanding of senescence mechanisms and genetic improvement of crops.

Arabidopsis thaliana; Leaf senescence; Metabolic network reprogramming; Transcriptional regulatory networks; Hormonal and stress signaling