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| Melon: scientists have isolated the melon sex determination gene and figured out how it works |
A French study reveals the genetic underpinnings to the curious reproductive system of melons, called andromonoecy, in which individual plants carry both male and bisexual (hermaphroditic) flowers.
The new discovery of the gene that changes the sex of melon plants, reported today in Science, will provide insights into how sexual systems evolved in plants and could shed new light on the enduring mystery of why sex emerged in the first place.
in melons, whose sexual system - andromonoecy - carries both male and bisexual flowers and appears to have evolved recently. The switching of a single DNA "letter" in the CmACS gene seems to result in andromonoecy
The researchers focused on the hormone ethylene, which is known to help fruit ripen.
an enzyme involved in making this hormone is also involved in the evolution of the sexual switch of female flowers to hermaphrodites
clipped from: www.telegraph.co.uk