[Eco-physiology and regulation of leaf senescence and maturity performance in cotton: A review].

Senescence is a natural termination process at the plant or organ level of cotton, leading to the inevitable end of the growth and development process. Maturity performance is termed as senescence performance and results of a cotton plant during boll opening, including normal maturity, premature senescence and late-maturity in cotton. Senescence and maturity performance are influenced by genotype and environment interactions. This paper summarized and reviewed the research progress in eco-physiology and molecular biology of cotton leaf senescence. Strategies were proposed to regulate cotton growth and aging through breeding of stably-developed varieties, rational application of plant growth regulators and agronomic cultivation measures, to realize normal maturity and improve yield and quality of cotton.