Association between leaf senescence dynamics and age-related yield decline in the perennial grain crop intermediate wheatgrass

These results show that IWG interannual yield decline an aging process that is correlated with a shift toward earlier and slower rate of canopy senescence that is possibly limiting the rate of nitrogen remobilization for seed filling. While further confirmation is needed, our results indicate that i) leaf nitrogen and stomatal anatomy could be potentially used as indirect selection traits and ii) genetic manipulation of leaf senescence is potentially a viable strategy for mitigating IWG interannual yield decline.