Monoecious species provide a comprehensive system to study the developmental programs underlying the establishment of female and male organs in unisexual flowers. However, molecular resources for most monoecious non-model species are limited, hampering our ability to study the molecular mechanisms involved in flower development of these species. The objective of this study was to identify diffe...

Although the molecular basis of poplar sex-specific flower development remains largely unknown, increasing evidence indicates an essential role for microRNAs (miRNAs). The specific miRNA types and precise miRNA expression patterns in dioecious plant flower development remain unclear. Here, we used andromonoecious poplar, an exceptional model system, to eliminate the confounding effects of genet...

Seagrasses form extensive meadows in shallow coastal waters and are among the world's most productive ecosystems. Seagrasses can produce both clonally and sexually, and flowering has long been considered infrequent, but important for maintaining genetically diverse stands. Here we investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in flowering of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica, an iconic species en...

landraces are a valuable source of genetic diversity for varietal improvement. despite, iran is the fifth squash and pumpkin producer, but no available information exists about the diversity of summer squash landraces. in order to evaluation of floral and fruit production characteristics among four iranian summer squash and a check cultivar of f1 hybrid ‘asma’, an experiment was conducted in a ...

A male flower-specific gene SlMF1 was isolated from male flower buds of the dioecious plant Silene latifolia. SlMF1 is expressed in all the floral meristems at the very early stage of development in both male and female flower buds. At the mature stage of development in male flower buds, SlMF1 transcripts were specifically accumulated in pollen mother cells, tapetal cells, and the developing ti...

In Nicotiana tabacum, female gametophytes are not fully developed at anthesis, but flower buds pollinated 12 h before anthesis produce mature embryo sacs. We investigated several pollination-associated parameters in N. tabacum flower buds to determine the developmental timing of important events in preparation for successful fertilization. First, we performed hand pollinations in flowers from s...

The distant hybridization was used in lodging-resistance breeding of Platycodon grandiflorus. The parents were Platycodon grandiflorus (♀) and Campanula medium (♂). 187 seeds of F1 were harvested by using the inter-generic hybridization in 2009 and 2010, 2 repeat, and 88 normal plants were obtained. The characteristics of leaves, stems and branches were the same as female for F1 generation, F2 ...

In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of altitude on reproductive ingredient and sex allocation different colors Anemone obtusiloba in populations. The variations three four altitudinal gradients at eastern Qinghai Tibetan Plateau were examined. Our results showed that with increased altitude, gynoecium/flower, androceium/flower gynoecium/individual increased, but androceium/individual,...

Male and female flowers of the dioecious plant sorrel (Rumex acetosa) each produce three whorls of developed floral organs: two similar whorls of three perianth segments and either six stamens (in the male) or a gynoecium consisting of a fertile carpel and two sterile carpels (in the female). In the developing male flower, there is no significant proliferation of cells in the center of the flow...

In a hypothesis that has remained controversial since its inception, Darwin suggested that long-tubed flowers and long-tongued pollinators evolved together in a coevolutionary race, with each selecting for increasing length in the other. Although the selective pressures that flowers impose on tongue length are relatively straightforward, in that longer tongues allow access to more nectar, selec...