Sex determination in plants is less studied than in animals. The multiple and very different time periods over which sex emerges in plants make it difficult to understand because of the diversity of systems, but at the same time provide us with a unique opportunity that does not exist in animals. This is an insight into how sex evolves over time, as some mechanisms are old, and others are young. The research also has a practical use for the production of hybrids, as it facilitates them and allows for more economical production. The findings are also useful for determining the sex of plants where we do not have self-fertile species or can only determine the sex of plants at flowering time after several years. Also of interest are more unusual mechanisms of sex determination, such as methylation, RNA interference, and transposons. These mechanisms have also been studied in melon, persimmon and poplar. In melon hybrids are wanted and for their production a phenotype with female-only flowers regulated by transposon can be used. In persimmon, there are available self-fertile species, but some dioecious varieties are still used, so there we want female plants and sex in this case is regulated by miRNA and RNA interference. Poplar is a model woody plant where sex can be determined by a methylation pattern.
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