Populus tomentosa raw sequence reads

Leaf senescence is the final stage of leaf development involving nutrient recycling from leaves to other organs and is critical for plants fitness. Impressive progresses have been achieved in understanding of leaf senescence through genetic studies of senescence mutants and identification of senescence-associated genes using omics-based technologies in annual plant Arabidopsis. However, the underlying molecular regulatory mechanisms of leaf senescence in woody perennial plants remain largely unknown. Here, we perform RNA sequencing analysis to obtain a high-resolution temporal profile of gene expression during autumn leaf senescence in Populus tomentosa. Co-expression network analysis of senescence-associated NAC transcription factors (SenNAC-TF) identifies three hub genes PtNAC055, PtRD26/PtNAC072 and PtNAC076, which promote leaf senescence when overexpression in Arabidopsis. Moreover, transient expression analysis reveals that PtRD26 is a positive regulator of leaf senescence in Populus.