**5. Conclusions and perspectives**

Integration of transcriptomic and metabolomics data arises as a powerful approach to iden‐ tify pathways and candidate genes related to the senescence process in sunflower, an eco‐ nomically important oil crop without previous molecular information about this process. The results discussed in this chapter provide an important start point for understanding the senes‐ cence process and open new insights to explore alternative strategies and possibilities.

Moreover, by a combination of physiological, cytological and molecular analysis, we identified two senescence contrasting genotypes. B481-6 genotype showed a delay in senescence symptom evaluated both, under physiological and molecular measurement. This senescence delay, together with an increase in photosynthesis rate, leads to an increase in yield, highlighting this genotype as functional stay-green. These results together with a better understanding of the onset of the process will in turn impact on the development of different senescence management strategies and could help controlling the grain-filling process. All in all, these advances provide a valuable tool to assist in crop breeding, which represents a significant challenge for the future of agricul‐ ture attending to the increase in both, world population and climate risks that affect productivity.
