総説
柿の性決定機構から考える種子植物の性
2017 年 52 巻 1 号 p. 31-38
詳細
2017 年 52 巻 1 号 p. 31-38
Separated sexuality （dioecy） is one of the most important strategies to promote or maintain genetic diversity in a species, both in plants and animals. Dioecious sex determining system has been established several times independently during evolution in seed plants, which would explain lineage-specific adaptive scenarios. Yet, little has been known on genetic determinants of dioecy and their functional pathways, since the first discovery of a plant sex chromosome in 1917. In 2014, as the first report of sex determinants in dioecious plants, a Y chromosome-encoded small-RNA, named OGI, and its counterpart located on an autosome, named MeGI, were identified in persimmons （Diospyros spp.）. Furthermore, this dioecious system has evolved to give more flexible sexuality in polyploid persimmon （D. kaki） according to establishment of epigenetic layers on OGI and MeGI. Here, from the finding on the sex determination systems in persimmons, recent progresses of the studies on plant sexualities and their diversities among the species will be discussed.
