Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Resistance and Sensitivity to Biotic and Abiotic Factors: The Role and Function of Sex
A special issue of Current Issues in Molecular Biology (ISSN 1467-3045). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 20
Special Issue Editor
2. Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Botanicheskaya Street, 4, 127276 Moscow, Russia
Interests: cell biophysics; ontogenesis; symmetry and asymmetry of biological objects and systems; environmental stress; plant development biology; cell biology; genetic engineering; electron microscopy; cell ultrastructure; mathematical models of genome phenotypic manifestations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Sex in plants occurs in approximately 4–6% of dioecious species, depending on the region, and can occur in both dioecious plants and many monoecious species, in which male and female flowers are somehow spatially separated, forming separate zones and/or even specialized shoots on which only female, male, or hermaphroditic flowers develop. Sexual differentiation in development has also been observed in typical monoecious plants, particularly grasses, umbellifers, and a number of others, among which are many species of cultivated plant groups. These can be characterized by either true sexual reproduction or its combination with apomixis, both within a single species and even a single plant or inflorescence. The basis of hormonal regulation of sex is being extensively studied. It influences significant changes in gene expression, leading to subsequent changes in flower development and phenotypic modifications, such as the expression of male or female flower buds. This change in or regulation of the reproductive system is controlled by poorly understood modifications of molecular processes, offering a promising tool for agriculture and targeted breeding. The process of sexual identity formation in some species can be sensitive to the plant's developmental stage or to external factors such as temperature, drought, mechanical stress, and other abiotic factors. The molecular mechanisms of such regulation remain of interest for research and hold promise for practical applications. Furthermore, in some dioecious plants, sex identification before the transition to reproductive development is difficult. However, identification methodology, including the study of cytogenetic traits, genetic and molecular markers, and phenotypic traits, enables timely sex determination and prevents losses during the cultivation of plants whose properties are not essential for production.
This Special Issue aims to consolidate methods for sex determination and highlight key points that allow for the exploitation of differences in plant sexual identity for sexual applications in dioecious plants and plants with spatially/temporally separated male and female gametophytes in the fields of breeding, phytopathology, and practical applications. We invite authors to consolidate their efforts to improve knowledge about plant sex and the molecular aspects of its regulation.
Dr. Ekaterina N. Baranova
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- plant reproductive development
- molecular regulation of sex
- apomixis
- dioecious plants
- hermaphrodites
- pollination
- female and male gametophyte
- regulation of flowering
- plant sex-determining genes
- evolution towards dioecy
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