Development and Evolution of Unisexual Flowers: A Review

• Published in: Plants (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 2; p. 155
• Main Authors: Jabbour, Florian, Espinosa, Felipe, Dejonghe, Quentin, Le Péchon, Timothée
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 07.01.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Angiospermae; Angiosperms; Art galleries & museums; Biological materials; Botanics; Botanists; cryptic dioecy; Development Biology; Developmental biology; Developmental stages; Evolution; Fertility; floral gender; flower morphology; flowering; Flowers; Flowers & plants; functional sex; Gender identity; genetic background; Life Sciences; materials; meristem; Morphology; Mythology; ontogenic pathway; Ontogeny; Organs; phenotype; Phenotypes; Plant reproduction; planting; Polymorphism; Population; Review; Sampling; Sexes; sexual system; sexual systems; unisexuality; Vegetal Biology; cryptic dioecy; sexual system; floral gender; meristem; functional sex; ontogenic pathway
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants11020155

The development of unisexual flowers has been described in a large number of taxa, sampling the diversity of floral phenotypes and sexual systems observed in extant angiosperms, in studies focusing on floral ontogeny, on the evo-devo of unisexuality, or on the genetic and chromosomal bases of unisexuality. We review here such developmental studies, aiming at characterizing the diversity of ontogenic pathways leading to functionally unisexual flowers. In addition, we present for the first time and in a two-dimensional morphospace a quantitative description of the developmental rate of the sexual organs in functionally unisexual flowers, in a non-exhaustive sampling of angiosperms with contrasted floral morphologies. Eventually, recommendations are provided to help plant evo-devo researchers and botanists addressing macroevolutionary and ecological issues to more precisely select the taxa, the biological material, or the developmental stages to be investigated.